Test of Integrity
Page 25
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IN these days of full employment, many operators are forced to engage drivers whom they would not have considered in the past. They may well be faced with the choice of entrusting a valuable vehicle to inferior labour, or of putting it off the road.' Only individual experience can show which of these courses is wiser. 'Vehicles tend to increase in price, insurance premiums are high, and thefts of lorries or their loads have reached alarming proportions. Consequently, employment of only the highest calibre of man must continue to be the aim.
It is easy to establish technical skill. An applicant can be tested by the operator or by a reputable school of motoring. Success in the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition is a guarantee of proficiency, and possession of the certificate of merit awarded by The Commercial Motor to those who gain 75 per cent, or more of the possible marks in the final contest places a driver in the top flight. Unfortunately, a good character and ability to deal agreeably with customers are not automatic corollaries of technical skill, and are less easy to prove. This is a matter in which operators must help each other, as well as themselves.
It is essential that a full record should be kept of the particulars of every successful applicant for a position as driver, and that it should be carefully preserved after he has left. The reason for his leaving must be inserted. To help operators; the vehicles security committee of the Road Haulage Association have drawn up a specimen form, containing 15 questions, to be used in interviews. Most of the questions relate to personal particulars, including convictions for driving and other offences. The applicant is asked whether any load, part-load or vehicle for which he was responsible has ever been stolen.
A driver should also be asked to state the names and addresses of his six last previous employers, with dates of employment and reasons for • leaving. Any man who changes his job frequently is, of course, suspect, and periods of unemployment or alleged self-employment require careful investigation. The man may have been in prison. _ References should be taken up with the six previous employers. It is in this connection that the preservation of records of past employees is vital. This is something that every operator should do in his own interests and those of the industry generally. Security devices on vehicles and rewards for information leading to the conviction of thieves are of little avail if a driver is dishonest. Moreover, collusion by a driver with thieves may invalidate an insurance policy and place an onerous burden on the operator.
' Scrupulous honesty is equally important in bank staffs, traffic clerks and others who have intimate knowledge of the movement of loads. They should all be subject to careful screening.