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Driver CPC aims at the lowest common denominator
Page 10
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ROSEMARY THEW'S Opinion (`The road transport industry can only benefit by bringing in the Driver CPC', CM 19 February) got me thinking — when I started to read the column. I was hoping for some answers. I desperately wanted to know how my company would benefit.
But it seems to me she is not sufficiently informed enough to hold an opinion on the subject and comment in the manner she did; and the fact that what was written by Thew was just a facsimile of the European Directive proves this to me.
Qualifications
What transport qualification does she hold? Our Traffic Commissioners hold a CPC in transport management and they still get it wrong sometimes (perhaps they should all hold an HGV licence and undertake 35 hours' experience behind the wheel of a modern truck every five years). If my drivers hold this CPC. how will they benefit? How much can I put up the rates for transport once my drivers have these qualifications?
From a fuel-saving point of view, an increasing number of Companies are opting for automatic transmission to eliminate the driver from this equation. I know of one company that downloads the vehicle data and the driver will get a warning if he has selected manual at any stage. Is the training tailored for automatic boxes? If so, which types?
Someone will have to pay for this CPC. and it looks like the drivers and/or operators will be footing the bill. This is all well and good if it does bring about the professional image that Thew believes it will. Why isn't who should pay for the training included in the directive? What about the many foreign drivers in this country who may go home to take their Driver CPC?
It may be easier for them, it may be cheaper and it will be legal — but it will not reflect the type of work they are doing here. They don't even drive on the same side of the road as us or get in behind the wheel from the same door as us.
Left-hand drive vehicles that are driven on the right-hand side of the road are different to right-hand drive vehicles driven on the left side of the road.
Aviation regulation
We all know the aviation industry is highly regulated — and thankfully so — but the 35 hours every five years (that we must attend) is more than double the periodic training a commercial airline pilot has to undertake to maintain their licence.
Is there so much more to driving a lorry than flying a passenger plane?
Individual companies have their own periodic training (or induction) tailored to the nature of their business, and they instigate it as they see fit. They don't need the European Parliament to tell them what to do.
But this directive gets through under the guise of 'setting a standard'. For example, similar standards have been in place since the Financial Services Authority cracked down on 'rogue' insurance sales people 30 years ago. But the difference is that a driver has already undergone training to get his licence.
Any further training is vehicleor company-specific and should be implemented by the company according to its needs and/or the type of vehicles it runs.
This directive is for the lowest common denominator (the minority) in our industry and yet we are all likely to suffer because of the activities of this group. •
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