I was very interested to read the responses to my observations on Drivers CPC (DCPC) [routeone/Opinion/3 April], and would very much like the opportunity to address these comments.
First of all, the reader that kindly contacted JAUPT to make sure I hadn’t done anything wrong or wasted another day of my life – I would like to thank them for that and also for inadvertently underlining the exact point I was making. I passed my driving test before 1997 and as such I have grandfather rights on my licence, and therefore I can drive an LGV up to 7.5 tonnes. So the module on loading does count towards my DCPC and my other two drivers that sat that module with me.
Now, I am sure many readers will be thinking: “Well if he is that bothered about it, why doesn’t he find the kind of training that he wants for himself and his staff?”
A good question that I would also like to answer. I am well aware that there are courses that are designed specifically for PCV drivers, and this on its own is wrong in my opinion. The 35 hours’ training should be identical, high-quality training nationwide – regardless of when you passed your test or which county you happen to live in.
As a PCV operator, of course I take the training of my staff seriously – but it is less important than making sure my customers are looked after. I have a business that at any one time has 15-20 employees – all of whom drive. In an ideal world, I would employ a trainer to come and deliver 35 hours’ DCPC training to all of us at the same time – and I could look into exactly what kind of training we would receive.
However, I have not worked as hard as I have for many years to tell all my best clients that they will have to manage without me for a complete week – and this is a crucial point. I have to put my staff through the DCPC two-three at a time in order to keep my business running smoothly, because without my clients my business would not exist; 20 people would not have a job, the training company would lose £6,000 because Whites St Albans is gone. The knock on effect goes on and on.
We all have to keep our clients happy because if none of us have any clients the whole industry would be gone, and there wouldn’t even be a magazine for us all to have our say in. The training companies will clearly not run a tailored course for me with three people on it, and as an operator, I am not going to send my staff to a more appropriate course that might be two hours away, costing me even more money and potentially overnight costs, when I can send them 10 minutes down the road.
With regards to what modules you choose: Yes, the LGV Loading one was of no benefit – but I chose Tuesday-Saturday rather than Monday-Friday because it is easier for me to manage without drivers on a Saturday than a Monday. If the 35 hours’ training was identical nationwide, then this would not matter would it.
In short, due to the fact that my customers are the most important part of my business, I will always choose the least inconvenient way, and to a certain extent the cheapest way to get my staff through the DCPC – even if it means watching the same videos I watched five years ago. I very much doubt I am alone.
- Greg White, Whites St Albans
