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;eorge Wilmot explains that the EEC's TML requirements rovide a wonderful opportunity for the UK to update road ransport education
HEN the Transport Manager's cence (TML) comes into force for 72,C members on January 1 1978 in ad freight and road passenger, it is ivious that there will be a need to unch a massive programme of new ■ urses. In previous articles in this ries, I have emphasized the iportance of gaining membership (at iy of the various grades) of one of the ree professional institutes concerned ith road transport. The current pvision of courses is so meagre that if ere were a rush before the deadline to ke up studies leading to grades of embership, would-be customers could )t be accommodated.
M survey
CM did a survey in 1970 of all types of lad transport courses, not only those .1lowing the syllabus of professional stitutes, but also City and Guilds, rdinary and Higher National ertificates/Diplomas, The RSA iploma in Road Transport subjects .ow in a Certificate format) and other levant awards.
The results of the survey showed a arting lack of suitable courses with .eat tracts of Great Britain having rtually no provision. Particularly riking was the almost complete blank, Scotland outside Glasgow and dinburgh, and in East Anglia, Central id North Wales, SW England and the ast Midlands. Even in the major etropolitan areas the choice of iitable courses was severely restricted. Today the position is worse. Strict!ss about minimum starting numbers often carried to ridiculous lengths by ime local authorities — a cutting back provision on financial grounds, the langing role of the Industrial Training oards and the sad decline of the RSA ork in road transport, are all factors contributing to this worsening tuation.
How can a new programme of courses e mounted with new ideas and a totally .esh approach to the problems of road .ansport education? Before we can even egin considering this increase, there are :al dangers that delay will be the order of the day. And the consequences of this delay could be disastrous.
The first obvious reason for doing nothing is the EEC referendum. The system of licensing for entry into road haulage and passenger management would clearly not apply if we decided to pull out of the EEC as the regulations have been based on EEC directives. Yet there will be pressures for a TML at least in the road freight sector.
The legislation for TML on the freight side lies dormant in the 1968 Transport Act and there are many in Government circles who are known to favour these clauses being activated, quite independent of EEC membership. And, again, there will doubtless be pressure upon us by the EEC if we were non-members to license our managers where Continental freight and passenger operations are concerned.
The unknowns
A more potent reason for delay is that it is impossible at this stage to estimate the number of individuals who will be required to be licensed as managers by courses and examinations. This sounds odd, but consider the unknowns on the road freight side. It is not yet clear whether own-account operators are to be included in the scheme or whether they will have the option of returning to the system of only carrying their own goods, as in the days of C licences.
The EEC directive applies only to hauliers (all those who engage in any hire or reward work) and if the ownaccount operator decides to revert to own goods only he must be exempt from manager licensing. The whole concept of who is to be licensed is still far from clear. The 1968 Act spoke of managers at each "operating centre," still to be defined. Will each firm have discretion to bring together a number of depots in a region under one manager or must they appoint a separate licensed manager for each geographically seperated operating centre, regardless of the number of vehicles involved? Similar difficulties arise on the psv side in deciding who is to be licensed. Until these matters are ironed out, it is not even worth making a guess at the numbers involved.
In both road haulage and passenger, how can one possibly know how many managers in their posts on December 31 1974 are going to be in the same post on January 1 1978? This is the period of time required for the granting of a licence as of right without any other formalities.
Thus, it is all too easy to start preparation too late with serious resultant consequences on all road transport operations. At least, one can be certain that there will be a considerably increased demand for courses. The foundations of this expansion should be laid now. Local education authorities and their colleges should be asked to make tentative estimates for increasing road transport course provision even for this coming September. Many colleges engaged in transport education seem to be blissfully unaware of either EEC directive. One of the greatest problems will be to identify a sufficient number of suitable teachers in the field of road transport where there is a great shortage.
We must avoid the situation where full-time staff engaged in another speciality are suddenly asked to prepare a road transport course at very short notice. It does happen sometimes; last August, I heard of a lecturer being given 14 days to prepare for teaching the Road Freight option in the Finals of the CIT. "It shouldn't be too difficult, there is not a great deal in this subject," comforted the lecturer's Head of Department!
Local branches or, sections of the Chartered Institute of Transport (CIT) and the Institutes of Road Transport Engineers (I RTE) and Traffic Administration (I oTA) should be encouraged to co-operate with local colleges in course provision and persuade those with suitable experience to offer themselves for teaching in various courses.
Multi questions
Those who are not inclined to follow Institute qualifications will probably be licensed by a statutory examination of the multi-question choice type. It would be based on a manual largely concerned with factual legal requirements, minimum safeguards of maintenance and safety, plus very simple costing. I imagine that preparation for this basic minimum qualification can be effected by a highly intensive course over four or five days immediately followed by the examination. In this connection it would be advisable to make contact with the private sector of transport education which rendered much important service in road transport management courses, largely between 1967 and 1972.
Many of these organizations provide splendid courses, a few were, admittedly appalling, but the experience of the Road Transport ITB has resulted in identifying the sheep and the goats. In spite of much increased course provision, many aspirants to licensed transport management will be compelled to fall back on less formal metItods of study. Correspondence courses in road transport are provided by (i) the Transport Tutorial Association, which, at the moment, provides only for CIT but would be ready to expand its range of courses; (ii) International Correspondence Schools which caters for the first stage examinations of CIT and IoTA; and (iii) Pitmans College of Transport which covers CIT and the road passenger certificate of the RSA.
New methods
Here is a great opportunity, given encouragement — and finance (presumably from the Department of the Environment) — for new methods to be employed. Surely, we are at a stage where cassettes could be prepared as an addition to duplicated lesson notes, instruction given on local radio bands and even television time in co-operation with the Open University or through the local authority closed circuit educational programmes?
It is a wonderful chance to use the directives from the EEC to strike out with new ideas and give road transport education a much more modern outlook. I hope the opportunity will not be allowed to slip away. The problem is urgent and preparation must be made now — not next month, or next September or next year.
BREATHING SPACE: It has been officially announced by the EEC that those who take up management posts after January 1 1975 in road haulage and passenger which are to he licensed, will be provisionally licensed on January 1 1978. They will need to pass the statutory examination or gain an Institute qualification not later than January 1 1980 to he .fully ratified in their licensed position. In other words, there is a breathing space for two years.