Help with LGV training???

dickydonkin

saintjammyswine wrote: »

Agreed, nothing can beat experience and that is where an apprenticeship is better than someone who takes their test & tries to get a job.

Scenario

A company is willing to take on a Driver with limited driving experience and may be required to work in the warehouse occasionally.

Two drivers apply and both passed their test around the same time.

One Driver has not attained any theoretical skills.

The other has completed an apprenticeship/training courses as described earlier and has gained the theoretical workings of the logistics industry.

It's a no brainer really.

Hammyman

saintjammyswine wrote: »

A major employer told me on friday that they are crying out for drivers at the moment, they need reliable direct employed drivers instead of the agency ones they usually have to use.

There is a reason that they are not getting drivers in a climate where 10,000's of highly experienced ones are looking for work.

The reasons are:
1) The pay is a joke
2) The employer has a bad reputation and people in the area won't touch them with a barge pole.

There are companies that people simply won't work for no matter how bad they are. I worked for one once who used to have such a reputation. Nobody within 30 miles would work for them. There's also a dairy near me who is run by !!!!!holes and has a high turnover of drivers with a permanent HGV driver job vacancy advert - there are only 8 employees including 3 drivers.

Hammyman

dickydonkin wrote: »

The other has completed an apprenticeship/training courses as described earlier and has gained the theoretical workings of the logistics industry.

It's a no brainer really.

Reality:
Theory doesn't mean anything and for most haulage companies, they won't care that a lorry driver has knowledge of logistics outside of what they need to know to do that job.

Being able to get a job can come down to who passes the reversing test on the driving test an employer does. After being off ill for a year and going for a job interview I had a fairly less than average drive as I'd not been in a truck for a year and Mercedes had altered their EPS gearboxes on newer versions than I'd driven. I got the job because I blind sided onto a loading bay first time with no shunts.

saintjammyswine

Well done. Nothing more to add really. The company I am talking about is one of the top 5 in terms of staff numbers & turnover in the UK, not just in logistics but across all industries. One of their main problems is that the drivers they get are too old, too old-school, not flexible enough in terms of their skills across the operation, not trained enough apart from an HGV licence. Dont bother replying to me, I am simply passing information on from an employer. Because I know diddly about logistic, remember?

dickydonkin

Hammyman wrote: »

Reality:
Theory doesn't mean anything and for most haulage companies, they won't care that a lorry driver has knowledge of logistics outside of what they need to know to do that job.

Being able to get a job can come down to who passes the reversing test on the driving test an employer does. After being off ill for a year and going for a job interview I had a fairly less than average drive as I'd not been in a truck for a year and Mercedes had altered their EPS gearboxes on newer versions than I'd driven. I got the job because I blind sided onto a loading bay first time with no shunts.

So what is the Drivers CPC all about then?

Isn't that a classroom theory based course?

Reality:
Someone may well indeed be able to reverse onto a loading bay - without shunts - first time - but the 'reality' is that without a Driver's CPC - the company cannot (or won't be able to) employ him/her in a driving capacity without it - irrespective of how good a driver he/she is!

One of their main problems is that the drivers they get are too old, too old-school, not flexible enough in terms of their skills across the operation, not trained enough apart from an HGV licence.

I hope they don't tell applicants they are too old!

Although I do get the point. Flexibility is the key in many businesses nowadays and the more strings to your bow - the more chance you have of getting employed.

I suspect that additional costs of medicals and impending CPC requirements may just be the straw that breaks the camels back for 'older' drivers coming back or continuing in the driving profession. I certainly have no intention of returning as my career path changed.

saintjammyswine

CPC does not prescribe the type of training to be undertaken. There is a requirement to do 35 hours of training every 5 years but the training only has to be done at an approved CPC centre adn be relevant to the industry. This could be 5 lots of the same training e.g. tacho training or could be for example, manual handling, first aid at work, health & safety and loading & sheeting training. This adds up to just over 35 hours.

Jo_F

CPC does not have to be done at an approved centre, it can be done on base, that's where my partner is doing his, the instructor comes into base to do the training with the drivers.

saintjammyswine

I assume by base you mean Forces? In which case they will be approved although the trainer will travel round to different ones.
For example, First Aid can be part of CPC but each delivery location must be approved so someone like St Johns Ambulance would have to have each & every one of their locations approved to deliver CPC accredited training at them. It is an expensive process for a training provder to get accredited as a CPC centre & to deliver CPC accredited training.

Hammyman

dickydonkin wrote: »

So what is the Drivers CPC all about then?

Isn't that a classroom theory based course?

No. The Driver CPC is both classroom based and practical based. The classroom component covers EU Drivers Hours law, tachograph rules and regulations and other legislation.

The practical covers loading, securing, driving the vehicle.

I hope they don't tell applicants they are too old!

Especially as the average age of a lorry driver in a RHA survey several years ago was 53 with few young people joining.

Jo_F

saintjammyswine wrote: »

I assume by base you mean Forces? In which case they will be approved although the trainer will travel round to different ones.
For example, First Aid can be part of CPC but each delivery location must be approved so someone like St Johns Ambulance would have to have each & every one of their locations approved to deliver CPC accredited training at them. It is an expensive process for a training provder to get accredited as a CPC centre & to deliver CPC accredited training.

Nope, base as in haulage yard, the boss is paying for the CPC and the instructor comes in to see the drivers on site, they sit in the office doing whatever it is they are doing that time.