ROG:
If the idea was to use the dcpc as a way of ensuring that drivers know the rules then it failed before it started because a driver can do all sorts of dcpc without ever having to sit a course on the regs
but Most courses are run around tachograph use and checks etc the proble with it is there is NO testing
Agree with you there nick -its daft that a driver is not checked on whether they actually KNOW what the regs are etc rather than left to THINK that they do
A check on what they know does not have to be a pass or fail but simply an indication to the driver that they need to do some more work on them - or not as the case may be
Present drivers with a few printed or online scenarios and ask them to point out if legal and if not then highlight what is wrong along with a space for giving the reason(s) why
LIBERTY_GUY:
Thing is though, some of those dcpc ‘trainers’ have given out lots of incorrect information to drivers, which is kind of self defeating from an ‘educational’ perspective surely?
I would rather it have been one days training every three years, to bring everyone up to speed with changes in legislation and to a strict curriculum to ensure those topics were actually covered. Certainly doesn’t need 35 hours training every five years to sit in a traffic jam on some forlorn motorway somewhere.
This is where it falls down - some courses such as ADR have content overseen by a governing body but courses like drivers hours are not governed by anyone - DVSA should approve the content of such courses or better still produce a factual 7 hour course that all trainers can use and will get automatic sanction as an approved course from JAUPT
ROG:
If the idea was to use the dcpc as a way of ensuring that drivers know the rules then it failed before it started because a driver can do all sorts of dcpc without ever having to sit a course on the regs
but Most courses are run around tachograph use and checks etc the proble with it is there is NO testing
I would agree that most courses have these in and would be covered but not everyone could make the whole week. On my week there were 4 of us did all 5 days in a row, mon we had 2 extra, tue none, wed 4 extra, thu 2 & fri just the one. He could only attend Fridays and so had done load restraint in the morning & customer relations in the afternoon 3 times! With 2 more of the same to go. This along with the lack of testing is where it shows itself to be a total waste of time & money.
BillyHunt:
I would agree that most courses have these in and would be covered but not everyone could make the whole week. On my week there were 4 of us did all 5 days in a row, mon we had 2 extra, tue none, wed 4 extra, thu 2 & fri just the one. He could only attend Fridays and so had done load restraint in the morning & customer relations in the afternoon 3 times! With 2 more of the same to go. This along with the lack of testing is where it shows itself to be a total waste of time & money.
I agree that DCPC is far from perfect but many times the scenario above (regarding who’s available for which module) is a result of bad planning & poor availability/flexibility of drivers.
For example a driver or firm books on DCPC training day…Mondays (because we’re quiet) - by the time 5 x Mondays have passed maybe 3 out of the 5 days have been the same module. Or company just books drivers on DCPC - regardless of which module (main factor is availability of 7 hours credit - oh, and price of course!!).
Then follows uproar & blaming the system and/or training providers for allowance of repeat modules. In reality it is the fault of driver/firm for doing Load Safety 3 times & Drivers Hours twice (no bad thing - the repeating of Drivers Hours BTW).
Think of this: Would companies/drivers prefer it if we had to do mandatory 5 x different modules? Thus forcing the firms and drivers to plan their availability more stringently and carefully i.e. “We want to send 10 drivers on DCPC this Monday but we can’t because they’ve already done Load Safety once!!!”…if you put it in this context I expect many firms & drivers would prefer the current ‘freedom of choice’ - whether they choose to utilise this freedom or not, well, it’s up to them really!!!
The problem is you can do it, that’s the point. It shows the complete lack of interest in the whole thing from the people that brought it in, the politicians. In light of that attitude why should drivers take any interest in making sure they get a wide range of instruction? It doesn’t say on your card what subjects you’ve covered as long as you have it. The whole thing is a farce.
So go on then who else is manning up & backing their distain for that useless bag of [zb] card then & knocking it on the head■■?
Or is it the usual bravado BS.
I’ve recently completed my 35 hours. This will take me up to around 6 weeks short of my 65th birthday which, unless I retire earlier will do nicely, despite the DWP informing me I cannot draw my pension until I’m 66
I have been doing this job since 1976 when I was 21 and need a rest soon.
Do what I did and taper off instead of quitting altogether. Tell your employer that you are available to work on a casual basis; maybe three or four days a week and with reasonable notice. Of course you won’t get paid holidays etc, so would expect a higher rate. Note that after your 66th, you stop paying NI, which is an 11% increase straight off. If you don’t need the state pension, deferment is still a good deal.
ROG - yeah, one course per year is the best way of tackling it - but again not compulsory…IMO this should be made a minimum requirement thus ‘spreading out’ the training for all concerned, with less peaks & troughs. Planning would be easier as would ensuring no repeat modules. Whilst we still have full flexibility some will always leave the training to last minute.com - it’s human nature to put things off until they have to happen.
Also many firm’s still wrongly believe that they get 5 years life on their DQC from when the last module took place rather than 5 years from deadline day - regardless of when training completed. So we don’t get penalised for ‘finishing early’ - this is another reason firms/drivers have put it off until year 5.
Ref. the 5 modules offered by one training provider - this is available I think already, if you belong to a training consortium.
Of course some training providers only get the one module approved to save approval fees - this limits the choice of their customers forcing them to repeat modules, as there are no alternative modules on offer.
leslie g heath:
No, it is not bs.As I wrote in a thread earlier in the year I have done nearly 40 years, trucks, buses and coaches.It is not the traffic, I plod on and let people do what they want, I hardly ever get stressed, frustrated maybe,i just no longer enjoy the job.
In fact it is the endless bs and hs that I have had enough of.I am too old to take it all on board,the rules and pettiness go over my head, I fail to grasp the reason for it.
I did consider continuing, but recently I did an agency shift which involved delivering to the Co Op at Andover and I committed the heinious crime of taking the wrong road.
I was informed of this grave matter by a very young Co Op driver who informed me I would be fined, my company would be fined and ND would lose their operators licence.
It was the way he told me, no respect or trying to be helpful, just downright arrogant and rude,it kind of summed everything up for me,bs and hs gone mad.
You should have told the said young Co-op driver to " Mind his own business and shut the ■■■■ up " and asked him if he " had he never made a mistake ?" .
Well, upon reflection it was a tad unkind to single out this incident.
Maybe, I was thinking this young lad had his brain removed at the ND induction and just repeated the company line ad nauseum, instead of thinking for himself.
If he had come and took the ps in a nice way, that’s fine, but he was so serious.
All industries are now the same.About 20 years ago I was driving local buses, one driver, a good driver, was reported for having, ahem, relations shall we say, on the back seat of an empty bus.Manager had been in the industry since Adam was a boy.The drivers punishment was to clean all the seats spotless and drivers were to go and take the ps, punishment fits the crime.
If this happened now there would be disciplinary, sacking, health and safety issues, notices on boards, the list is endless.
I could go on but you are all probably bored to death.Good luck with the CPC.
alix776:
The thing is a complete joke my last three moduales sre the same one taken 3 times the whole thing is a farce and nothing but a money making scheme
Really and here was me thinking i would be a more rounded competent driver after completing the said course.
leslie g heath:
.About 20 years ago I was driving local buses, one driver, a good driver, was reported for having, ahem, relations shall we say, on the back seat of an empty bus.Manager had been in the industry since Adam was a boy.The drivers punishment was to clean all the seats spotless and drivers were to go and take the p**s, punishment fits the crime.
If this happened now there would be disciplinary, sacking, health and safety issues, notices on boards, the list is endless.
.
The problem now is now people can go to a “no win no fee” solicitor and get a payout, so everything has to be by the book procedures and god help the manager that doesn’t follow them.
I know an owner of a car dealership, he employs several mechnics and every so often a couple of them will have a set to. As he says loads of blokes working together, it happens and normally afterwards they get hauled into the office for a talking to and that’s the end of it and both guys still have a job and are now probably mates again or learn to avoid each other.
But the last time it happened one of the mechnics went to industrial tribunal claiming he felt unsafe at work because the other guy was still there. It cost my mate £9000, in compensation and fees. He says in future he’ll have no option but to sack anybody involved in any sort of confrontation.
