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Class act
Page 46
Page 47
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Fraikin has stolen a march on its rivals by taking the classroom to its customers in order to meet training demands from the road transport industry.
Words: Kevin Swallow / Images: Torn Cunningham
Given the introduction of digital tachographs, drivers' hours rules, health and safety training, Euro-4/5 engines and the forthcoming Driver CPC, training drivers is now more important than ever.
Realising this, and aware that finding somewhere to house training sessions is a problem for organisations. rental company Fraikin has stepped in to help customers with an Iveco Eurocargo 7.5-tonne truck-cum-classroom.
Of course, the mobile training unit hasn't come cheap. Investment for the vehicle and getting it kitted out with a generator, heater, air conditioning, power points, projection screen, and the right training equipment has cost more than £60,000, but it means that Fraikin can now show up at customers' premises and run independently of them and without disrupting day-to-day activities.
Knowledge is power
Operating the mobile training unit is Tim Williams, who has spent a lifetime in haulage and knows the importance of training. He has also spent the past 18 months delivering driver training to Fraikin customers.
It's fast approaching lunchtime when CM arrives at Oliver Kay Produce, in Bolton, where Williams is in the middle of a training session.
Today. he's explaining the merits of digital tachographs to van drivers who will have them fitted to their vehicles later in the year.
As CM settles in. Williams explains how to apply for a driver card, what information is stored on it, how to operate the digital tachograph, which buttons to press, and how to print off and download its data. With more than 40 drivers to get through, many having just finished a shift that started at 2atn, he's having to work quickly with groups of four or five. It's possible that he will have explained the process 10 times before night falls.
Not one of the drivers we meet has a digital tachograph card and they are keen to know more about them. Williams answers their questions with authority and his pace never seems to falter.
Central to his training method is his laptop computer, which he uses to demonstrate the card going into the digitach, right through to ejecting it at the end of a shift. On the wall is a real one in order to help drivers obtain hands-on experience.
Further down the wall of the truck is a diesel and AdBlue tank to show the difference between the two, while a tail-lift fitted to the rear is used for health and safety training. As you might expect, there is an awful lot of information to give and to receive.
Education on the move
During the day, Williams spends his time in the back of the truck training Fraikin customers. In between, he drives to different parts of the country. Yesterday, he was in Warrington, today Bolton, tomorrow Tamworth. Typically, he's away for up to four nights a week. As we talk, the phone goes. It's a customer wanting to set up training.
"Customers who want training call me direct," he says. "Martin Newnes [see sidebar] lets me run this cart blanche, so customers who want training contact me."
Our time with Williams is brief, and before long several drivers appear. It's back into the truck to restart the digital tachograph and card training again. III