The transport manager's licence (2)
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THE NEED for "grades" of qualifications for the proposed transport manager's licence which are commensurate with responsibility was discussed last week. But what subjects should be studied for the higher qualifications involving the manager of a large fleet?
Some feel that fleet engineering and the problems of administration should both be given equal weight. Frankly, I am not happy in constructing an examination system (which would involve practical as well as theoretical work) to include bath the engineering and administrative problems of road haulage.
It is difficult to argue which is the most important aspect for this quality licence but I believe that concentration on one or the other is essential.
The manager of a C-licence fleet, for example, does not normally have qualifications on both sides; if he is predominantly an engineer, he will usually be assisted by someone with a thorough knowledge of administrative and costing problems. The same is true of the manager whose qualifications are primarily in the administration field. This is not to say that the manager who concentrates attention on the one side should be entirely ignorant of the other—a general appreciation is required, not a detailed knowledge.
How is the scheme to be administered, since the Transport Bill envisages the Ministry of Transport ultimately handing over the examination procedure "to the industry itself"? It has always seemed to me that the "industry" must be the RHA and the TRTA who should be the basic responsible bodies for the conduct of the licence. Many have expressed the view that the Road Transport Industry Training Board would be the obvious organization to conduct the work for the licence but there are two important objec
tions:—
(a) Industry training boards are not professional bodies making specific awards; (b) As at present constituted only public hauliers are included in the orbit of the RTITB, all the "C" licensees belonging, at present, to the training board of the industry they serve.
Of course, advice on training and teaching would be required by a joint RHA/TRTA body and the Industry Training Board could obviously be of great help in this direction.
In formulating any scheme, the RHA and TRTA, whose experience in the wider field of training and education has been rather limited until quite recently, will also need the advice of the Institute of Transport, the Institute of Road Transport Engineers, the few universities concerned in this field, and representatives of leading local authority technical and commercial colleges.
But before any entirely new schemes are propounded, a list should be carefully compiled of the awards in transport that are currently made—and how far they can conveniently fit into various categories for the transport manager's licence. There is a great deal to be said for using existing awards as a basis for much of the theoretical work. Modifications will be needed while practical work and experience will need to be added.
It is a tremendous task for the RHA and TRTA, who must be the prime movers. But it is also an exciting exercise—it will stimulate overdue thinking about the purposes of much of road transport education and could well result in a much higher degree of coordination. Looking further ahead, the joint body could be the guardians of professional conduct in the industry and become the main instrument of discipline for its own members—like so many other "professions".
A great deal of good can stem from this licence if the industry, through the RHA and the TRTA, grasp the nettle firmly and quickly.