Martin Barnes Project manager, Charles Gee, East Huntspill, Somerset The
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sub-standard training on offer for the Driver CPC is a lost opportunity to make a real difference to industry standards, Martin Barnes believes.
“The feedback from drivers is that the training is not much use. I think the aim of the scheme is laudable, but it is falling short of what everybody expected. It was supposed to make being a truck driver respectable again and, so far, it is failing dismally. It is doing nothing to drive up the standards of the industry, which we were told was the objective whenever anyone complained about the cost of it. There are large numbers of drivers who are nearing retirement and a lot of those guys won’t do the Driver CPC.
“As for foreign drivers, there is a minority that run professional outfits. But the majority do not. So the question is, are they all going to be stopped at Dover and asked to produce their Driver CPC? And if they cannot, will they be told to get back on the boat? I don’t think so.”