Keep your head!
August 1st 2011 Although we are now two years into the era of the Driver CPC, the process is well behind schedule.Geoff Dossetter urges employers to keep their heads and realise the benefits.
In 2003, the European Union enacted a regulation designed ‘to improve the knowledge and skills of professional LGV and PCV drivers throughout their working life.’ The new regulation introduced the ‘Driver CPC’, short for ‘Certificate of Competence’, requiring already tested and qualified drivers to undergo additional periodic training, amounting to 35 hours over a five year period. The schedule, for lorry drivers, was set to begin in September 2009, with the first cycle of the new additional training required to be completed by September 2014.
The facts are that for employers, responsible for implementing the training, there is flexibility in the subjects that can be covered by the training, no need to cover the entire syllabus, and no prohibition on repeating some aspects of the programme. Training can be in the cab, classroom, yard, or workplace. There is no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ element, the training must simply be conducted and recorded. And the 35 hours can take place at any time during the five year cycle, as long as it is completed by September 2014. However, courses have to be of at least seven hours duration and must be approved.
But, since the EU regulation was enacted in 2003, and its start date for lorry drivers set for 2009, we have had a substantial economic crisis. Despite the sound argument that wise managers should keep their head during difficult times and continue with rewarding training programmes, real life experience demonstrates something rather different. Employers cut costs during tough times, and training suffers.
With the price of fuel going through the roof, and powerful evidence indicating that driver fuel economy training can save anything up to ten per cent on consumption bills, the enlightened argument suggests that the driver training obligation is not a statutory nuisance, but a compulsory means of saving money! But no.With the 2014 dateline seeming like some indeterminate never-never moment years away in the future, something of the ‘manana’ philosophy has applied. ‘Never mind about that – we’ll deal with it later’ is the word of the day. In an ideal world there would be an orderly process of driver training over the five year period. The 35 hour obligation allows a breakdown of one day’s training per driver per year. Not excessive, and minimal compared with the continuous training and development programmes which exist for so many other disciplines and occupations.
At present the evidence suggests that, at the current rate of driver training, there will be a shortfall in the completion of training of over 60 per cent by 2014.
But as the time shortens between now and September 2014, then the problem for individual employers, and individual drivers, worsens. The pressure on working schedules, across fleets, will become more complicated as the need to take drivers, and thus vehicles, off the road in order to complete training in the reduced period builds up.
And there may also be issues relating to the availability of adequate approved training as we get closer and closer to the big day. As time goes by it may not be a question of how to organise company driver schedules in order to deal with the training, but actually finding sufficient trainers, of the right quality, to do the job.
There is a rumour running around that such is the magnitude of the problem that the Government will step in and extend the due date. Forget it. It won’t happen. The regulation will not be amended.
It will be illegal to drive a vehicle without holding the Driver CPC, or, in the case of an operator, to cause or permit another person to do so. This means that, as with driver licence checks, transport operators must have systems in place to ensure that drivers are properly qualified. Drivers could be fined £1,000 for driving while not holding the Driver CPC, and operators causing or permitting such driving could also be fined £1,000.
On top of that, persistent offending could result in problems for the operator’s O licence, potentially putting them off the road. However, over and above these sanctions, the lorry driver is simply the key ingredient in the supply chain of any organisation. Surely any worthwhile operation recognises the value of its prime assets and keeps them in the best working condition in order to increase their efficiency and further develop their value to the company.
Driver training is common sense. It yields a return on investment. But now it is also a legal requirement which, if not taken care of, will come back and bite. The clock is ticking towards September 2014. Just get on with it. More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
