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TIR Training puts drivers behind the wheel to test their reactions, see how they deal with an emergency, and improve driving techniques... and it's all done without leaving the classroom
Words: Kevin Swallow In an age where video and computer games offer everything from high-speed car chases across sprawling cities to battles raging across enormous planets, providing similar software for driver training isn't so far-fetched.
However, recreating a realistic environment for an experienced truck driver is harder than producing fantastic scenarios for garners to explore, so getting a chance to use the simulator system developed by MPRI, an American company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, could not he passed up.
Rather than fly to the States, CM has been invited to TM Training Services in Beverley, East Yorkshire, just outside Kingston-upon-Hull, which has brought two simulators into the UK.
Initially, TIR brought a truck simulator to the UK on trial, explains its director of group operations Paul Thompson, and the company set about bringing in students from Hull University for a fuel-saving competition and marketing the service to the road transport industry.
Providing real-world benefits
TIR Training focused on road transport company management first to try to win them over, to show that
time spent on a truck simulator would provide real-world benefits for its drivers, Several companies subsequently expressed an interest, and Wincanton sent its driver trainer to try the simulator.
-The system is designed to help drivers make better decisions by subtly presenting a situation in order to learn how to react, and it supports training on the road. It makes an impact on the environment, helps more firms stay profitable and reduce accidents," Thompson says.
So successful was the initial trial that TIR Training spent £300,000 on buying two truck simulators, and there are plans to add a mobile unit to bring the simulator direct to the customer. "The plan is to have four: two in Beverley and another two in a mobile classroom." he says. "To make it pay financially, we need a minimum of 2,000 people on this project."
TIR Training believes it needs to invest £70.000 for the mobile training facility, plus a tractor unit.
JAUPT-approved training More important I well and tryiip4 to improve drivers' abilities and decision-making. both its existing simulatorbased courses have been approved for Driver CPC periodic training by the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training (JAUPT).
The courses are: Driving Down Risk, which concentrates on manoeuvring at slow speeds and in restricted spaces, reducing the chance of collisions and accidents: and Driving For Change, which uses SAFED techniques to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions.
Both could save businesses huge amounts of money, says TIR commercial manager Tim Watson.
"Simulator-based training in the US has delivered a 4% to 6% increase in fuel efficiency, and clients are recording a reduction in avoidable accidents of between 20% and 44%," he explains.
Employers can measure the benefits Watson adds: -The majority of accidents in the transport industry involve manoeuvring in restricted spaces and typically cost between £1,200 and f1,400.This is the only kind of training available in the UK that provides factual information both before and after. to enable an employer to measure the benefits."
Allied Mills was the first to take on the training programme, and TIR Training and MPRI worked to develop a specific course for the company.This included driver welfare, hazard perception and decision-making.
T1R Training is driven by its clients' requirements, says .1hompson, who prepares the courses and delivers them.
There are also plans to offer three more courses: Speed and Space Management: Circles of influence; and Emergency Manoeuvres. S