Shortage expected despite CPC uptake
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By Emma Shone
THE NEW HEAD of Skills for Logistics (SW) said he still expects a driver shortage this September, despite more than 300,000 professional drivers having now completed their Driver CPC.
Responding to the latest CPC data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (previously the DSA and Vosa), Ross Moloney, SfL chief executive, said: "Nothing has changed that makes us revisit our forecast of a driver shortage come September.
"Employers up and down the country routinely agree that sourcing drivers can be a significant challenge, and Sit recognises the challenge that CPC is likely to provide with an inevitable shortfall of drivers."
He added: "We are working with a number of partners and seeking to run various projects to try to prevent this."
As of December 2013, a total of 305,324 drivers had completed 35 hours of compulsory training and triggered their Driver Qualification Cards (November: 291,421). Of the estimated 750,000 professional PCV and HGV drivers required to undergo CPC training by September, the data reveals 694,638
have now engaged with the training process (November: 680,175).
However, this also means that up to 55,000 drivers are yet to do any training, with just nine months to go until the deadline.
Julie McDonald, director of Gordon Springate, a training school in Maidstone, Kent, said she was still fielding calls from drivers who thought the Driver CPC would not come into force. She said: "There are still some not committing to it, while others are panicking as they can't do the dates we have left."
McDonald added that she was now fully booked until April for CPC training.
Next month, Sit will launch the Certificate to Work qualification alongside training provider Pearson, with the aim of attracting more drivers into the logistics sector.