CPC: not as bad as you think
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THE DRIVER CPC debate continues (CM 11 November). In the past I have been vocal in my criticism of the Driver CPC, because holding a national (and international) CPC, I didn't see why I had to do it.
However, once I'd accepted that it wasn't going away, I thought I'd better embrace it. I got myself in a position to be a trainer and have now delivered training to several hundred drivers (with positive feedback).
The important thing is to select the correct training provider. Depending on the course, and contrary to Mr Hetherington's comment about brokerages not even owning a single vehicle, that may not be important, it depends on the course content and subject.
The actual trainer is the most important thing. I've attended other peoples' courses as I need to do my 35 hours and have been disappointed at the standard of training.
As for teaching old dogs new tricks. I've had the comment a number of times 'I've been driving 25 years, what are you going to teach me?'
I've also had experienced drivers come up to me at the end of a course and shake my hand telling me they'd learned a lot from the day. At its simplest, if doing a day of Driver CPC training just confirms what a driver already knows, then it is worthwhile.
Finally, when it comes to the cost of acquiring a licence, it's not cheap. But things worth having in life rarely are. In the past, HGV-related training, other than passing the test, was limited.
With the increasing complexities of vehicles, time pressures, number of vehicles on the road, legal requirements, etc, that just isn't enough in this day and age, and more pre-driving training is worthwhile, even if it does cost more.
Vernon Hill
Ed's note.The current debate regarding the Driver CPC is now closed due to the volume of letters we have received on the subject.