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THE SPECIAL Now that good HGV drivers are fast becoming

5th December 2002
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Page 34, 5th December 2002 — THE SPECIAL Now that good HGV drivers are fast becoming
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collectable items, wise hauliers are taking steps to hold on to their C+E licence holders. The FTA has teamed up with fleet giant TOG to form a scheme designed to retain drivers— and it could boost profits too. Adam Hill reports.

rivers are, as the industry is all too aware, in short supply. Future European legislation may put employers under increasing pressure to provide refresher training for the drivers they have, while the forthcoming Working Time Directive will bring with it another set of rules and regulations which have to be understood. And all this while running a haulage business.

As one haulier, who runs five trucks with drivers all over 35 years old, told CM: "Insurance companies have said to me, 'Why don't you let your drivers go away on a two-day course?' A bit of training [for drivers] is very useful, but who is paying for it while the trucks are away? If you have 30 or 40 trucks, maybe you are all right." The Freight Transport Association believes it may have the answer. It has ioined up with haulage giant TDG to promote a scheme which is designed to improve driving standards, reduce operating costs and increase driver retention. More importantly, the FTA says it will answer that vexed question of who pays for the driver's absence—it confidently states that the 5 Star Driver Development Programme's basic cost of 45o per day will finance itself through improvements in fuel consumption alone.

This selling point is a strong one, according to John Hicks, training development manager at the FTA. He says: "The industry has woken up to the requirement that we must invest in our driving workforce to recruit the quality of people we need going forward." The programme came into exis tence in the early 1990s but the involveme of the FTA is new, and gives its member chance to access the sort of training whi TDG has been carrying out for a decade.

Training tends to be carried out at compa premises by assessors using a dedicated fic Ian Barclay, driver development manager TDG, is responsible for managing a team instructors and developing the course acr■ the country. Although biased towards fuel p formance and safe, economical drivii Barday says there are other considerations the day's training. "Unless he's done a CP( driver won't have been exposed to things I running costs, for instance," he points o The Working Time Directive can also included in the course, as can other issi such as corporate liability.

"We used to accompany the driver on ular work, which obviously had an influ:e [on improving driver standards]," says clay. "But drivers are now taken away from rk, which makes them feel special." clay, who used to be a trainer himself, nvs the value of putting candidates at their e. "It is very informal," he says. "The tructor is there to help and advise. Drivers e to be reassured that nothing terrible is ag to happen."

)epending on the standard of the drivers, sions can start with the basics—even as ic as how to get in and out of the cab. For ployers this is not as silly as it might look, m what Barclay calls the "blame and m" culture of modem business.

he initial part of the day focuses on things eyesight checks, vehicle checks and a couig and uncoupling exercise. The instructor !s two drivers out with him. The first goes on a familiar route with the instruction to re as he normally would. The time taken . fuel used is recorded by the assessor and second driver drives over the same route. lien it's time to head back into the classm for a debriefing. "We encourage people tell us what they thought,' Barclay lains. The instructor goes through indisal faults and, back out on the road, he drithe same route. On average he will manbetween five and 20% better than the ers in terms of performance. "In the afternoon we want to see people using the engine capability better," Barclay continues. There is then a test which is designed to reinforce the information which the instructor has been giving the drivers throughout the day. At the end of the day a dn. vers scoring 0-9 penalty points will receive a grade A; a driver marked grade E would be referred for further training in the areas he is weakest. And whatever happens, the drivers will be coming back for the second stage in the next calendar year.

Darren Staniland is in his third year of the course as a driver. He is also transport coordinator, southern region, for Sainsbury's, looking after training at 13 of the supermarket's sites. All drivers, even those on contract, are given one day's training a year in a fiveyear programme and this has been extended to Sainsbury's drivers working for Exel, Tibbett 8c Britten, NF -r and Wincanton.

Most Sainsbury's sites also put their management through the course. Flexibility is built around the core course, with programmes tailored to cover other workers, such as shunters. Even clerks sit in on the sessions to get an idea of what drivers are up against in their daily jobs. Staniland says the results have been positive: "There has been a marked improvement in mpg." He confirms that the saving on fuel alone has paid for the training.

Sainbury's has been involved in the scheme for seven years after what Staniland calls "a cracking success" at the company's Buntingford depot: "As a business we are committed to uniform training, which is what 5 Star gives us, rather than each depot doing its own thing."

He takes particular satisfaction in the reaction of drivers who have been in the business for 30 years or more: "They have often scoffed and said, 'you won't be able to teach me anything'. But to a man they've all said, 'actually I've learned something today'. That's down to the quality of trainers. I reckon Ian Barclay could teach anyone anything."

The FTA says it has a lot of interest "in the pipeline" from its members—but how will it convince prospective clients, which may be rivals of TDG, that the group is not planning to poach the drivers it trains? Staniland says: "It is a totally professional, independent training agency. They are not promoting TDG's logistics service."

Not everyone is convinced. Stuart Butterworth, operations director of TDS Morgan Freight, says: "They are fishing for their own men—or am I being cynical? We do our own in-house work, training drivers our own way in the hope that they will stay with us. You do have to be a bit parochial."

In a time of crippling driver shortages, this may yet be the biggest obstacle to the wider take-up of the 5 Star scheme.


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