Driver CPC training won’t make you a better driver
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HAVING RECENTLY endured my third Driver CPC training course, I feel the need to put pen to paper. After 26 years of driving lorries, I know my job from all angles. I learnt from practical, hands-on experience and nothing beats that!
The first course I attended was about vehicle safety checks and tachograph regulations. Fair enough: it relates to the job, but there is little that the experienced person doesn’t know. The next course was health and safety and green issues. Great: let’s all watch some videos on common sense.
The third course has been about first aid: this was strange as I thought I was attending a course to make me a better driver and improve the skills. Interestingly, the instructor knew nothing about lorries when questioned. Basic first aid is always good to know, but quite where it fits into the Driver CPC I fail to understand. I have now come out of the course as a trained first aider with a certificate valid for three years!
I have attended these courses with the same colleagues from the start, although some have dropped out due to lack of interest. I have found these courses boring and a waste of time and money; the instructors had trouble keeping everyone’s attention. They struggled to stretch the courses out for seven hours, often repeating themselves, and most of the class was staring out of the window.
What do we get for all this training? A driver qualification card after 35 hours in the classroom, and then the training starts again. I feel the Driver CPC is yet another nail in the coffin of the UK haulage industry. Will we be able to ask customers for a rate rise because our drivers have been trained?
If the Driver CPC was scrapped tomorrow, it would be a day too late. It offers nothing for the professional driver. The general feeling seems to be that there will be a shortage of drivers in September 2014, with many not having completed the course or having dropped out.
The Driver CPC is a complete waste of time and doesn’t make you a better driver.
Andrew Simmonds G&S Haulage