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COMPACT TRAINING
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David Scott-Smith has condensed 26 years of trucking knowledge into a 40-hour training package. 11rn Maughan meets him as le carries out his day job — as a Dover-based transport manager.
The authorities have finally recognised that truck driving involves a lot more than turning a steering wheel the introduction of the Driver CPC in 2009 is designed as preparation for the multitude of challenges associated with modern road transport operations.
Acknowledging this, Ramsgate-based David Scott-Smith has produced a 40-hour CD-ROM designed to prepare drivers for the rigours of the road, with the Driver CPC firmly in mind.
Our rendezvous with Scott-Smith takes place not in Ramsgate but further down the Kent coast, in Dover. He is the transport manager at Priority Freight, an outfit which specialises in just-in-time automotive component deliveries. He says he is ideally placed:" I've been here for six months; I'm lucky, because the managing director and the chairman are very training-focused."
It is a cliche, but Scott-Smith has road transport in his blood. His father was a truck driver, and he himself has served his time as a driver in the Royal Corps of Transport, as an employed driver in civvie street, and as a truck driving instructor.
He had the idea to make the CD collection in 2005, and working in his spare time it took him 18 months to cornplete,The name of the collection, the City & Guilds 3291 Home Study Package, reflects the fact that it can be used to train fora City &. Guilds Technical Certificate in Driving Goods Vehicles. Rut while it is useful for younger drivers studying for their NVOs, it is also for older drivers who want to brush upon their driving techniques. To date, 25 copies of the CD-ROM collection have been sold, mainly to training outfits.
Scott-Smith produces a laptop and begins the show, Impressively, the training package does not immediately present the viewer with a flurry of facts and figures. Instead, it seeks to put things into context. Driving a truck,fundamentally, is about maximising cash for the company. A humorous `ker-ching' noise, accompanied by attractive graphics, underlines this point.
It also tells the viewer about the importance of "good communication" between all parties in a modern transport operation. Effective dialogue ultimately allows a driver to assist the transport firm, and so helps that bottom line.
The introduction over with, the training package gets into the nitty gritty of driving a truck. All told, there are 10 units. Unit 1 is called The Professional Driver, I inn 2 is Understanding LGVs. Scott-Smith has designed the program to be interactive. He shows us a picture of a tachograph on the laptop's display. When questioned, the user's task is to identify and click on the correct part of the device.
But the CD-ROM collection does more than describe trucks, their accompanying gadgetry, and the transport operation. Scott-Smith has sought to make the package topical: one unit is bluntly called Bridge Bashing. "Five people a day bash bridges, mostly in LGVs and sometimes buses, and I find this distressing," he remarks.
Our tour of the package continues.The program turns to axle overloading, as well as the hazards posed by power lines. No one wants to strike one of these."Would you like to be that driver?" the computer asks rhetorically. Of course not: the program seeks to jolt the user into realising the dangers associated with modern LGV driving.
Each unit comes with a series of multiple-choice questions, which must be answered before the student is allowed to progress further into the program.
Scott-Smith has witnessed the adverse affects of the truck driving life at close quarters. His father, an LGV driver, died young:' He died at the age of 55. His body was rattled to bits in all the years he was driving. And he was a smoker. and a drinker and had a bad diet."
The program has a unit on drivers' health, which gives tips on healthy food and information on exercise regimes. Every single slide is natTated: you wouldn't believe how long it took to make." he says.
Scott-Smith clearly has a passion for trainin.g:"In 2004,1 was driving along the M2, and I saw the faces of two truck drivers I had trained. It was a proud feeling." Now, his time on the road as a civilian, a soldier, and an instructor has come to fruition in CD form." I've injected 26 years of experience into it," he concludes.
• See www.igvdriverschoice.co.uk for further information on the City & Guilds 3291 Home Study Package.