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VSA considers new HGV tests
Page 8
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I. Hauliers are to be consulted by the Vehicle Standards Agency in June over EU proposals to make HOY drivers sit written, oral and practical exams.
The Compulsory Training Directive, effectively a CPC for drivers, was agreed by the European Parliament earlier this month. The consultation will decide how the UK will Introduce the new legislation in 2009.
Under the law, new drivers will be required to undergo extensive training covering a range of areas including operational issues, customer care and fuel economy. Thereafter, drivers will have to undergo retraining of 35 hours every five years, which can be taken as a day a year-a requirement many companies already undertake. Drivers will be able to drive vocationally while studying for their exams.
Drivers who already hold an HGV licence will be exempt from the new requirements.
European Parliament transport committee member Philip Bradbourn MEP says the regulations will cripple hauliers and could cost the transport industry 140bn by 2010.
"This directive is completely unnecessary in British terms. Our safety record on Britain's roads is far better than our European counterparts. The additional cost of this unnecessary training will fall on an already beleaguered haulage sector and consumers will suffer as costs of transporting goods rise," says Bradbourn.