DCPC Training- my Review

Well, I had my first day of DCPC training today, and I would have to say that it was a complete and total waste of £70. I didn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know and in fact the trainer promulgated several myths which have already been thoroughly debunked on here.

One such was that you could use ferry mode when using the Dover-Calais crossing. I pointed out that you couldn’t because the driver wasn’t provided with a bunk. He said that you could, because you were provided with a Couchette (which for some reason he kept pronouncing as a “koo-shay”, being somewhat undermined when he later played a video in which it was repeatedly pronounced in the correct way, “koo-shet”.

He said that the glorified sun loungers on the Spirit of Britain counted as “koo-shays”. By this time I just couldn’t be bothered to correct him any more.

Here’s what a couchette is…

cou·chette (k-sht)
n.

  1. A compartment on a European passenger train equipped with four to six berths for sleeping.
  2. A sleeping berth in one of these compartments.

thefreedictionary.com/couchette

an inexpensive berth on a European train, consisting of a shelflike bed that folds down to allow passengers to sleep in their clothes:

yourdictionary.com/couchette

COUCHETTE. 1. : a compartment on a European passenger train so arranged that berths can be provided at night

merriam-webster.com/dictionary/couchette

How much faith can you have in someone who doesn’t even know the difference between a boat and a train?

Don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice fella, just doing what he was trained to do and earning a living as best he can. But the whole thing is a farce and a complete waste of money.

I’ll report on Day 2 tomorrow.

Harry, there’s no point trying to correct them, it doesn’t sink in, I had a course recently and I gave up, otherwise we’d still be there now arguing the toss. The trainers that don’t need correcting are also spot on with their answers on any curve balls that you throw em :sunglasses: , the others it’s a case of grimace and bear it :imp: .

Could you try a better training provider Harry? It sounds like he was a bit of a dope!

The bloke I had training me told me that the ferry mode is used for the vehicle AT ALL TIMES ON A FERRY OR TRAIN and the driver would then have his activity to suit - I aint going on a ferry or train anytime soon so I did not bother asking anysmore but if you guys could clarify it would be great.

H - are you doing all your training in one go then?

Oh no … who mentioned ferry mode ? :unamused:

There is a not a ferry MODE. there is what i would call a ferry SETTING used to let the authorities know why you have interrupted your rest period.

On older digi tachos once the ferry setting is selected a ferry symbol appears on the main screen. If the vehicle then moves it cancels the ferry setting. I believe on the newer releases this is not the case and ferry setting has to be unset by the user but stand to be corrected. (and probably will be)

Therefore - correct use is - At the point of interrupting the rest period - select ferry on tacho - drive onto ferry etc - select rest and go to bed. If rest is then interrupted again - select ferry then drive off ferry and if required take rest of rest (!)

And before anyone has a go at me - this is not a 100% detailed and authoritive written instruction :wink:

Jenson Button:
H - are you doing all your training in one go then?

On it all this week. I’ll let you know as the week progresses, I might learn something, I just didn’t on the first day.

it may be time to have a thread solely for the purpose of duff dcpc trainer information.
once we have it collated, then we could pass it on to jaupt, vosa, the TCs, & DoT.
this would highlight what a farce the whole thing is. it will also show that the future drivers that believe all this dribble will probably unknowingly break the law on a daily basis.
which will result in a huge number of court cases in both the criminal courts, and the civil courts due to jaupt, and dcpc trainers being sued.
i can see the adverts on tv, the constant text messages, and unsolicited phone calls.
“have you been miss sold dcpc training? then you could be entitled to compensation”
it’s coming. :laughing:

I have done 3 of the 5 modules and with right hand up to God can swear that I have learnt more from this site than from the Trainers{purveyors} of DCPC.

Yes, what worries me is that the information provided today could land a driver in serious trouble with both VOSA and the French authorities had he believed it.

i’ve emailed jaupt.

to who’m it may concern,

when the dcpc training was introduced i expected some incorrect information to be issued by a small number of trainers. however, it is the majority of trainers that are giving both new, and experienced drivers information that could result in the driver being prosecuted for a number of offences.
we are collating a list of trainers, and areas of concern. we are willing to share this with you for future course development.
in the mean time, drivers are paying for courses that do not deliver value for money. this could result in jaupt, and its approved trainers being sued.
as a result, the only logical solution is to cease all training until the problems are resolved.

thank you for your time.

No comment! :neutral_face: See my signature! :wink:

ibson:
Could you try a better training provider Harry? It sounds like he was a bit of a dope!

The best, or in any case, most popular trainers will be those that charge the least for letting you sit there playing on an ipad uninterrupted while their Powerpoint presentation plays quietly in the background or even better you sit at home while their Powerpoint presentation plays quietly in the background somewhere else.

Own Account Driver:

ibson:
Could you try a better training provider Harry? It sounds like he was a bit of a dope!

The best, or in any case, most popular trainers will be those that charge the least for letting you sit there playing on an ipad uninterrupted while their Powerpoint presentation plays quietly in the background or even better you sit at home while their Powerpoint presentation plays quietly in the background somewhere else.

I really hope the second scenario becomes the norm! And free aswell! :grimacing:

limeyphil:
it may be time to have a thread solely for the purpose of duff dcpc trainer information.
once we have it collated, then we could pass it on to jaupt, vosa, the TCs, & DoT.
this would highlight what a farce the whole thing is. it will also show that the future drivers that believe all this dribble will probably unknowingly break the law on a daily basis.
which will result in a huge number of court cases in both the criminal courts, and the civil courts due to jaupt, and dcpc trainers being sued.
i can see the adverts on tv, the constant text messages, and unsolicited phone calls.
“have you been miss sold dcpc training? then you could be entitled to compensation”
it’s coming. :laughing:

Sorry phil, but most of this has been passed on to VOSA, JAUPT,DSA and various government ministers and lackys, however all of them will continue to bury thier head in the sand until we are all so fed up with it, that we will just pay up and shut up, and be glad we have a job!
I can only, once again point anyone who is not willing to pay good money, or waste valueable time being taught incorrect and possibly unlawful information to this link:-
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34438

You have an opportunity, via the feedback form which you are given to complete at the end of each Driver CPC session, to make any comments you feel you need to to JAUPT.

Ot you could come on here and moan about it…

GasGas:
You have an opportunity, via the feedback form which you are given to complete at the end of each Driver CPC session, to make any comments you feel you need to to JAUPT.

Ot you could come on here and moan about it…

you could do both. :wink:
however, the feedback form is just that. it is feedback to jaupt, it dosn’t pre warn anyone else.
it dosn’t highlight the problems to us, and anyone else associated with the industry.

Without naming the training organisation, what’s the point?

It’s a bit like saying “I went out for a meal last night, and I’ve cooked better at home…so no one should waste their money going out for meals.”

GasGas:
You have an opportunity, via the feedback form which you are given to complete at the end of each Driver CPC session, to make any comments you feel you need to to JAUPT.

Ot you could come on here and moan about it…

I filled that out with mine, went for a beer with the trainer and explained that I’d be doing it, and that he was a nice chappy but I wanted to be honest and the course fed me incorrect information.

In my case it was “A split daily rest must be a minimum of 3hrs rest followed by a minimum of 9hrs rest. This must then be followed by a minimum of 12hrs rest

That’s not word for word, I can sort it word for word if you want as I got it in writing, this was the Mercedes Benz course at Tameside College.

If a course/trainer feeds you incorrect information - simply state that on the end of course feedback form that all the JAUPT training centres have to get you to complete.

These are then filed with the course paperwork which is then checked by JAUPT at audit time.

Also - the Training Centre will have a written policy for quality assurance. (have to have this to get approval). This will detail what will be done with course feedback forms. Who will check them and what action will be taken for negative feedback. This means the training centre would have no choice but to react to a negative comment such as “Bum information given - course is wrong”. They would then have to have an auditable trail to show what they did about it - therefore the problem would get fixed.

And of course you can post the trainers name, organisation and what was wrong on here to warn others.

I have a JAUPT Centre audit next Thursday. They will be here for about 3 hours according to the schedule they sent me and will be auditing my policies and procedures as well as paperwork and record keeping. On this occasion they aren’t checking the actual courses (this has already been done before). I know from previous experience they will go into great detail looking at course feedback and the policies and procedures surround it.

When I hand out course feedback forms at the end of a course I always ask for comments to be written in the box at the bottom. I always say that even if they have a bad comment please do write it down - how else will I fix it if I don’t know there is anything wrong.

shep532:
And of course you can post the trainers name, organisation and what was wrong on here to warn others.

If you want to name and shame a trainer or training company it would be best to include a scan of any documentation showing the wrong information that’s given with the course, otherwise I doubt the post would last long.