Discretely placed in the Traffic Commissioners’ (TCs) Annual Report for 2023-24 is a call for review of the Transport Manager (TM) CPC.
Brought about via similar work on Driver CPC, the airing of that by the TCs should be little surprise; Public Inquiry (PI) written decisions make clear that the professional competence of TMs is of great interest to the TCs and that lack of it can quickly become a big problem.
Outside the PI room, the TCs often underline how such proficiency should be maintained via continuous professional development. That, too, is of no surprise, given the thankfully tiny number of cases they encounter where control has been lost spectacularly.
Where this nascent story goes cold – for now – is how nothing granular is said by the TCs in their Annual Report about what they may want any review of the TM CPC to consider. Would their wish-list involve stronger oversight of regular training? Change to the course syllabus? Or other items?
Whether the TCs get their request for review is another matter. Reading between the lines of parts of their Annual Report and other passages where the position is much clearer show that friction exists between them and some bodies that they collaborate with and, in the case of DVSA, rely upon.
This is no new thing. Senior TC Richard Turfitt has in the past struggled to hide frustrations with such partnerships, and bizarre remarks made in 2020 by a former CEO of DVSA to the effect that the TC function should be abolished will have been damaging.
However, the TCs’ latest comments raise an inarguable point that the pace of change in the industries they regulate is (and will remain) rapid. TMs’ ability to understand data presented by various systems is highlighted, as is grasping the employment status of drivers.
The latter is a potential minefield and, beyond the basics, best dealt with via professional advice. It is no doubt key to fair competition, but is it core to the management of a competent and compliant transport operation? The TCs believe very much so, and their messaging in that field thus needs to be heeded.
Traffic Commissioners remain influential guardians of road safety. Their Annual Report is submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport. There is nobody more senior than her in the domestic transport landscape, and Louise Haigh has made clear that she is not afraid to upend the chess board when needed.
But any review of the Transport Manager CPC must recognise that while many TMs passed their exam years ago, they are competent and well able to exercise comprehensive control over their current operation. Any urge to throw the baby out with the bathwater must be avoided.
Traffic Commissioners’ Annual Report for 2023-24 here.
