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PRIVATE TESTING CAN MAKE SENSE
Page 3
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The government's enthusiasm for the private sector appears to be trickling into the haulage industry.
Firstly there were hints from Vosa that it wanted to farm out its functions and now the Driving Standards Agency (DSA)part of the same overall group as Vosa is looking to do the same with truck driving tests.
Buried in the DSA's consultation paper on 'Service improvements, safety related measures and general fee increases' is the suggestion that the 20 biggest transport companies will be able to conduct both practical and theory truck driving tests. "Both the the DSA and Vosa Clearly both the DSA and Vosa are are looking to the private looking to the private sector as a way to cut costs. While we have deep reservations that Vosa's testing can be performed more efficiently and rigorously by the private sector think about the quality levels from your local dealer -we feel differently about the driving tests.
There are clearly issues about road safety and the quality of the tests, and we shouldn't shy away from these in the rush to privatise. But there is already evidence from the PSV industry that supports the DSA's plans. PSV licence testing has already been delegated to some bus and coach companies and the DSA stresses there is no evidence to suggest these drivers are any more likely to be Involved in a road accident than someone who went through the conventional test route.
Additionally, the training regimes of a lot of the big logistics firms are much more rigorous than current DSA-approved schemes.
This latest initiative, which could see the first companies approved for training by April next year, seems to be a move by the DSA to get its ducks in a row ahead of the Driver CPC training directive to be implemented in 2009. It will introduce periodic training for drivers -35 hours over five years and a tougher licence acquisition test.
It has always been the DSA's belief that this industry knows what training is required to meet the demands of the market. Now It seems that it is pushing the responsibility of testing onto the sector as well.