MEDITOR'S COMMENT
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• We should all congratulate the initiative Royal Mail Parcels is spearheading to develop a new examination system for HGV drivers. Whether the vocational qualifications the Royal Mail envisages become "0-levels for the road transport industry" or not, it is wonderful to see operators taking a positive and pro-active part in setting new training standards for our industry. Apathy is a terrible enemy. The Road Transport Industry Training Board has suffered the same long-term fate as most of the other quango-style industrial training boards, squeezed hard on one side by a government opposed in principle to its very existence, and undermined on the other by an industry made antagonistic by the compulsory levy scheme and disillusioned by the shortcomings of the national HGV test. So it is good to see the RTITB talking to the Road Haulage Association about proposals for driver training and getting involved in a brighter future. Bringing in the National Council for Vocational Qualifications and the City and Guilds is a further step towards giving the new ideas the weight they will need to succeed.
After years of complaining that the HGV driver training and testing system is inadequate and that newly qualified drivers are not worth their salt, the industry could find that this initiative is the first step on the road towards effective self-regulation. But it is important that the proposed four-stage oral examinations do not become a poor man's CPC test. Be positive, be bold. This move could be the key to improving the road transport industry's poor public image and the catalyst behind a much-needed boost in the self-confidence of our haulage companies and their drivers. Success breeds success.