YOUNG DRIVERS' TRAINING SCHEME
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II The Road Haulage and Distribution Training Council operates a scheme to encourage young drivers to join the industry. The RHDTC Young LGV Drivers' Scheme allows drivers to begin training at 18 with the prospect of a C -FE licence as soon as they are 21, rather than having to wait until they are 21 to start training for a basic C licence.
Applicants must be working in the industry and sponsored by their employers: the scheme includes continual workplace assessment. Trainees are only allowed to drive their employers vehicles.
The scheme has been criticised for being expensive—it generally costs more than .£3,000 per driver—and because of this it is seen as favouring the sons of nauliers rather than ordinary would-be drivers.
Walter Ritchie operates the scheme in Glasgow through his company Ritchie HGV Training Centre. He agrees that the cost is "quite considerable" and would like to see more accessible training for young drivers. A trainee bus driver, he points out, can take out a double-decker at 18 as long as it is close to his base. "They don't give young lorry drivers a chance,' he believes. "Even if they were restricted to a two-axle rigid, it would get some of them going."
RHDTC chief executive Ian Hetherington (pictured, above right) agrees that the
present arrangement is restrictive, with young drivers having to choose between a costly scheme or joining the military to get a headstart on an HGV license. On the Continent HGV drivers can be on the road at 18.
"As long as there are safeguards in place we would welcome a clearer career structure for drivers," he says. "If careers in the industry don't start till 21 it begs the question, what do people do between leaving school and joining the industry? We need to bring people into meaningful employment at an earlier age."
He emphasises the good safety record of the RHDTC Young LGV Drivers' Scheme and the fact that insurance companies support its trainees. "Being young does not mean dangerous, given the right levels of support," he concludes. "Our safety record proves that."
CONTACTS RHDTC: 01908 313360.
Ritchie HGV Training Centre: 0141 557 2212.