Demand for Driver CPC recovering as deadline nears
Driver CPC training recovered from April’s slump in May, but did not reach levels recorded earlier in the year, possibly because of bank holidays during the month.
Training providers blamed the Easter holidays for April’s fall (Transport Operator, June), saying that hauliers could not afford the time to release drivers for training during four-day weeks. It is likely that May’s bank holidays had a similar impact.
May saw 851,970 training hours logged, up from April’s 762,312, but not matching March’s 894,834. During May, 36,556 drivers completed their 35 hours of periodic training and were issued with Driver CPC cards: a considerable increase on April’s 32,548, but again down on March’s 38,148.
While some training providers report demand is still quiet, the majority of those who have spoken to Transport Operator say that demand is likely to exceed supply before September’s deadline. They also tell of operators and drivers who protest that they have only just heard of the Driver CPC.
Clive Aisbitt, director of RLR Ltd and a founder-member of The Driver CPC Consortium, said: “We are starting to get enquiries from drivers and operators who say they didn’t know about Driver CPC until very recently.
“They want courses on days convenient to them and can only release one driver at a time. Six companies were on our mailing list and had been sent all our dates over the last five years. I’ve told them the only way I can accommodate them is week commencing 9 September as they won’t be able to drive anyway.”
Mel Bruneay, managing director at MES Consultancy & Training Services Ltd, of West Drayton, said: “We are still getting calls on a daily basis from drivers who have not started their training yet. It seems the last-minute rush is extremely last-minute!
“Also, we had a driver yesterday who was attending a Dangerous Goods Awareness course (which is approved for Driver CPC) as a member of staff from the warehouse, unaware that he needed to do Driver CPC training to be able to retain his ability to legally driver after 9 September! So it seems the message still isn’t getting to everyone!”
Rebecca Smith of Training Matters Sussex said: “I am booked every Saturday and full to capacity. I still have weekday sessions but getting regular enquiries.
“I still feel there is an air of denial out there among drivers that this isn’t really important. Let’s see!”
Self-employed training consultant Michael Connors of Harrow told Transport Operator he was booked right through to the deadline on weekends, and that one-third of the drivers he engaged with had only done two days’ training so far.
Ash Hunt from Transolva said: “We are getting full and still getting enquiries from various different companies asking for a week’s worth of training for their 20 – 30 drivers.
“I agree that there has been a sense of denial, and a sense from the drivers that they feel it is just a money-making scheme by the government, but when we tell them that it can only make the transport industry better and safer they seem to come round.
“To give you an idea of how things are shaping up, last year (January to December) we trained 623 drivers with some doing two or three courses, and this half year alone we have trained 582 with probably another 150 booked in between now and deadline day.”
