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Bridging the skills gap
Page 26
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HERE ATTHE Professional Drivers Association (PDA), we too are familiar with the problems of newly qualified drivers trying to get started in the industry and falling foul of the job/experience conundrum (CM 16 February).
The PDA provides some assistance via its website (www.pda-uk.org).As well as forums for more experienced members to answer questions from rookies, you will also find downloadable training leaflets on a variety of subjects.
All this is made to happen by a group of working drivers running a voluntary association in their spare time, so what might be possible when the haulage industry as a whole applies itself to the problem? The PDA has striven virtually unaided for almost five years to help new drivers bridge the skills gap, while the industry has largely failed to admit there's a problem.
Let's hope that the CM/Road Haulage Association forum can generate some results-and sooner rather than later.
Ian Ratcliffe Professional Drivers Association March, Cambridgeshire