Training across the Continent
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BRITAIN is fortunate to have a system of State-subsidised training boards in industry. This was very evident from several of the speeches at the London conference last week of the European Institute for Vocational Training.
We were told that in several of our EEC partner countries money for training is gathered from a variety of sources— operators, local authorities, chambers of trade, road safety bodies and so on.
A German film prepared by Deutcher Kraftfahrzeug Uber. wachungs-Verein eV (DEKRA) on the hazards of artic and drawbar trailer driving was made possible by the close cooperation of Daimler-Benz, which provided the drivers and undertook the quite costly repairs. For some of the more hazardous demonstrations DEKRA engineers took the wheel.
Mr E. Morr, a DEKRA divisional manager, introducing the film, said Common Market countries needed to improve the professional competence of lorry drivers.
He explained graphically the difficulties of trying to educate men with very average intellects, and often with limited schooling, in the laws of physics. Some understanding of the significance of weight, mass and centre of gravity was essential if drivers were to know enough to keep out of trouble. But no one should underestimate the difficulty of bridging the gap between theory and practice.
A principal sponsor of the DEKRA film and its accompanying instructional kits is the German Road Safety Council. The four-part film covers the vehicle control problem of artics and drawbar trailers from various angles—speed, centre of gravity, traction, cornering and braking, lateral stability, load behaviour, roadtrain control, and so forth. The aim is to demonstrate to drivers—a constant theme in the commentary—that "trailers have a life of their own," especially when the man upfront does not know what he is about.
With the aid of a tanker vehicle with translucent tank compartments the actual motions of liquids in transit were illustrated.
Questioners wanted to know from Mr Morr whether German lorry drivers would be able to take part in similar demonstrations, rather as London Transport bus drivers are subjected to skid-pan tests. Mr Morr said this was not envisaged. In practice, conditions on the road were so various that a driver who had undertaken demonstration tests under controlled conditions would be likely to be over-confident in a situation likely to be quite different.
In Holland there is only one " skid-school " for lorries and it appears that only solo vehicles may practise. This seems strange in view of the number of large outfits operated by thrusting Dutch road hauliers.
Mr Morr said the driver training course in Germany occupied five weeks and included 76 periods of practical instructions and 144 periods of theory.
As for the instruction in basic calculations — addition, fractions, division, etc — Mr Morr said most drivers on the course could do percentages but not fractions. "You shudder to see how they try to work out fractions. We have to tell them better ways of doing sums."
Too much theory
Mr Colin Nunn, divisional manager, technical training, RTITB, said that as an exteacher he could vouch for the difficulty of explaining to students of almost university standard the difference between weight and mass. While agreeing that forces in action were crucial to drivers he felt that the Germans were making far too much of the theory side, having regard to the essentially practical nature of driving.
Mr Morr rejected the sugges tion that there was too 'much theoretical detail in the courses. It was essential to expose drivers to the consequences of speed and velocity though no one would pretend that drivers so trained would approach university standard. In fact, there had been pilot tests of the courses to ensure that students were not crammed with knowledge they could not comprehend.
A Spanish delegate asked Mr Morr if DEKRA had made any inquiries to see if similar films had been made elsewhere. The answer was that nothing similar was available. The Germans had wanted to do it themselves and it had cost at least 250,000 DM.
Mr K. C. Turner, chairman of the RTITB, thought that lorry drivers everywhere would benefit from seeing the DEKRA film, and others produced elsewhere. He was convinced the visual aids were more important than the instruction on physics.
Arising from the discussion on possibly wasteful duplication of driver training films and accompanying material, Mr Turner undertook to raise with the IRU at Geneva the setting up of a clearing house to collate information. .
Mr Morr said the German Council on Road Safety was prepared to sell copies of the film at an estimated cost of 250 DM for each section of the four-part film; 16mm versions could also be provided at less cost — and the commentaries could readily be translated.
In a long paper describing current problems in training drivers for international transport, Mr A. de Muynck, vicepresident of the IRU and chairman of its committee on vocational training, stressed that vocational training for drivers must retain its optional character since employers were the most competent judges of the type of training necessary in the various branches of their business.
Nevertheless, said Mr De Muynck, the IRU wanted heavy vehicle drivers to be soundly trained in all countries, as did the International Labour Organisation. He thought the present differences in training standards would have to be levelled before long.
For countries lagging behind, Mr De Muynck urged adult training courses requiring fulltime attendance for between eight and 15 weeks, the programme to include practical and theoretical instruction and a probationary period of one or two weeks in a transport undertaking.
Here is a list of the theoretical side of the instruction courses recommended: Technology: 'elementary knowledge of the engine components, of the steering and electrical system, of the chassis, of the bodywork, etc.
Safety: national and international Highway Code, driving under all weather and geographical conditions, precautionary measures to be taken during loading (and stowing) and unloading operations, first aid in case of accidents, use of handling equipment, etc.
Calculations: elementary knowledge in the field of calculation of area, of weights and sizes, of load distribution, of pressure per sq cm of braking distances in relation to vehicle speed, of fuel, of tyres, of costs, etc.
Drawing: knowledge of road map reading, sketching a route and the outline of a road accident, etc.
Advanced training courses were urged by Mr De Muynck for experienced drivers who had not passed through basic training. Such drivers would profit from full-time courses tasting one or two weeks.