Thursday, September 4, 2014

Freight Association Praises Change to Road Haulage Training Requirement

Shift in Proof of Identity for CPC Trainees Welcomed - but Why so Late?
Shipping News Feature

UK – News that the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has confirmed that with immediate effect a driver may use their Digital Tachograph Card or Driver Qualification Card as proof of their identification in classroom-based Driver CPC training. With Driver CPC deadline less than a week away, 10 September 2014, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has responded to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency stating that the new ID ruling should have been introduced from the start.

The legislation surrounding permissible forms of ID for Driver CPC is expected to change on 26 September, 16 days after the deadline. The change will mean that some drivers who were unable to complete training because their licences were held by DVLA under medical review will now have an alternative. For the last five years drivers have been turned away from DCPC training because they did not have their licences, even though they probably had their digicards in their wallets, training providers were not allowed to accept them as ID under DVSA rules.

It is understood that training providers will be receiving notification of the changes from DVSA shortly but the FTA points out that it has raised the idea of these forms of identification being accepted numerous times since Driver CPC was first announced. James Firth, FTA Head of Road Freight and Enforcement Policy commented:

“This move is welcomed and it is sensible to allow it to come into effect immediately. But it would have been more useful if it had been brought in 5 years ago as FTA has persistently asked. We requested for this at original implementation, during the Government’s 2011 Red Tape Challenge (intended to reduce burdens on industry), and asked former DSA Chief Executive Rosemary Thew in 2012 when she attended FTA’s National Road Freight Council, and again most recently in a letter to Transport Minister Stephen Hammond in 2013.

“This last minute decision by DVSA lets its sister agency DVLA off the hook for now, as they continue to offer the industry poor service standards in conducting licence medical reviews. DVLA Chief Executive Oliver Morley told FTA’s National Road Freight Council in July this year that he accepted the Agency’s service standards on medical reviews was not good enough, while some drivers waiting months to get their licence back while it is held up in Government bureaucracy.”