figv training plus multiple services
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• In addition to hgv driver training courses approved by the RTITB, J. Coates and Co, of Anstey, Leics, provides driver-recruitment and collection-and-delivery services and employs drivers that are available for temporary relief duties.
The company's hgv centre was recently officially opened by Mr L. V. Williamson, Midland region manager of the RTITB.
Mr J. Coates was formerly field training officer of the Board's Leicester district, and later a member of the Midland region staff specializing in group training. He started training drivers for the hgv test in March 1970. While he now caters for drivers in all categories, about 25 per cent that are trained for companies come from own-account operators, approximately half the total being men who book a course privately and pay a fee. Around 350 drivers have been trained since the centre was opened and they have achieved an average pass rate of 70 per cent, which compares with a national pass rate of 62 per cent.
Four Motec-trained instructors and a trainee instructor are employed and it is anticipated that the number of fully qualified instructors will have been increased to six by March 1972. Two hgv drivers are available for relief work.
Outfits of 20and 24-ton-gross ratings with Seddon tractive units are used for artic training. Rigids are a Ford 1)800 17-tongross six-wheeler and a 13800 12-ton-gross four-wheeler. Instruction includes a standard five-day rigid-to-artic course and basic courses for Class II and Class III vehicles. A mobile classroom comprising a Portakabin demountable office is transported to the premises of any operator who requires the unit for on-the-spot training. The courses cater for operators in the Midlands, Home Counties and East Anglia.
Manoeuvring sites are used in various parts of the country, including a site in a nearby airfield. Future plans include one-day courses for more thorough instruction on the basic mechanics of the vehicle (to promote vehicle sympathy) than is practical on standard courses. Advanced driver courses have been initiated and it is expected that requests for this type of course will increase. A consulting service covering the training needs of operators and garages is immediately available.