Youth at the helm
Page 20
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IT IS A sad fact that after seven years of the Young HGV Driver Training Scheme, less than 1,000 youngsters have sat the course and only 236 have successfully completed it.
Why is it that with 1.7m registered goods vehicles on the roads, only 367 young people are at present training to become drivers?
That I cannot answer, for it seems to me inexplicable when the advantages to be gained from the scheme are considered.
Taking school leavers and training them for their future career means that young drivers can learn not only about driving but also administration and customer liaison, matters which are vitally important for creating a good company image.
Young supervisors and junior managers will emerge from the scheme, for even at the tender age of 21 they will have had up to five years' experience in all aspects of transport operations.
The benefits are clear, so let's look at some of the details.
The scheme was approved by the Secretary of State for the Environment in 1975, and the objectives were to secure the recruitment and the approved training of suitably qualified persons under 21 to become trainee drivers of heavy goods vehicles (hgvs) and to provide adquate safeguards against risks to road safety which would otherwise be involved in allowing such persons to drive hgvs.
The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1976 amended Section 96 of The Road Traffic Act 1976 to allow registered young drivers under 21 to drive hgvs at 18.
Eligibility for the scheme Employers and young drivers must both be approved for admission to the scheme by the National Joint Training Committee for young hgv drivers, and the names of both will be entered into a register maintained by the committee.
The committee consists of 14 members, three each from the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association, with two each from the Transport and General Workers Union, the United Road Transport Union and the Road Transport Industry Training Board.
Employers must operate class three hgvs as a minimum, and trainees must between their 16th and 21st birthday, be employed by the registered employer and enter into a training agreement in the approved manner.
An employer who wishes to register must complete an application form, and together with a deposit of £5, send this to the administrator of the scheme at the RTITB, Capitol House, Wembley.
Normally, a member of the RTITB staff will then visit the employer to discuss the scheme, and to see if the facilities are acceptable. Once accepted, the employer pays a fee of £10 if he employs less than 25 drivers, or £20 if 25 or more.
The trainee The employer selects the trainees and once accepted for training each trainee must sign a training agreement. If the person is under 18, the agreement must also be signed by his parent or his guardian. A fee of £10 per trainee is payable on registration, after which each trainee will be allocated his own registration number.
The training scheme The employer is required to provide a programme of progressive training and experience until the trainee is 21. Atypical syllabus would be as follows: Age 16-17. Time will be spent in the maintenance bays, on general yard duties, as a mate on delivery vehicles, in the traffic office and assisting with the loading and unloading of trucks.
At /7. The trainee will have training for his Group A driving licence. After passing the test he will be able to drive vehicles up to 3.5-tonne gvw unaccompanied.
At 18. The scheme allows the trainee to hold a special provisional hgv driving licence, and to be trained to drive class three hgvs. Once the class three test is passed, then the trainee is permitted to drive these vehicles unaccompanied. The trainee can also drive trucks up to 7.5tonnes gvw until he has passed the class three test.
At 19. The employer may, if he wishes, progress the trainee to class two hgvs after a minimum of 12 months from passing the class three test. Again, once the trainee has passed the class two test, he can drive this class of vehicle unaccompanied. It is not essential that the trainee takes the class two licence; it is the employer's decision, and he can continue with class three driving and training until the trainee reaches 21.
At 20. The trainee can, subject to the employer's agreement, progress from the class two licence to a full class 1 hgv licence, and take this test before he is 21. However, unlike the class three and class two licences, he will not be allowed to drive unaccompanied before his 21st birthday.
During all this time, the employer must keep training records, and report the progress of each trainee to the NJTC at six monthly intervals.
Not all the training is in driving; each trainee is required to attend associated knowledge classes and to sit an examination in three subjects, road transport operations, road transport records, and basic freight vehicle technology.
This course should be completed before the trainee's 18th birthday or before obtaining his provisional driving licence. It is also a legal requireme that during the period while trainee holds the provisiona licence, the only hgv vehicle which he can drive unaccompanied are those operated by his registered employer.
Driving licence endorsemen Each trainee must keep hi: driving licence free from endorsements. To qualify fo provisional hgv licence, his group A licence must be fre( from any endorsements.
Any endorsement, whetho traffic offences when drivinc company vehicles, private c or motor bikes, will prevent holding of a young hgv provisional driving licence a the trainee cannot continue training.
Once having obtained the provisional licence, more th one endorsement on the grc A licence will lead to the automatic loss of the traine( licence.
Grants To assist companies durir the first year of training grar £800 were previously availa to "in scope" companies frc the RTITB, and other compa received a similar grant fror Manpower Services Commission.
However, the grant schen ended in July 1982 and no g for 1982/83 has yet been approved.
This should not stop companies from considerin, entering the scheme. The vi of the scheme resides in the trainee. He will be a valuabll asset for the future if trainin carried out as outlined in thi suggested syllabus.
Additional details of the scheme can be obtained by writing to David Scott, the Young HGV Training Administrator, at the RTITB 01-902 8880 ext 214).
The scheme is not restrict road haulage companies registered with the RTITB.
• By Frank Woodward