Mrknowitall:
‘… they should not waste time and money teaching us drivers things we should already know …’
But that’s surely at the nub of the Gov’ts and EU’s argument?
Since the 1970’s the UK has been been palmed off with post-modern liberalism to replace hitherto politeness, once assumed and now mythical ‘common-sense’ and PC Plod on the street in his motor, etc, to now do as we ■■■■ well please on the roads.
The buck now stops at the door of the vocational driver to be endorsed and practice stuff to mitigate that mess.
My gripe is to ask why should vocational drivers undemocratically and financially carry the can for the rest of the morons out there who are free to obstruct, indicate wrong, flagrantly break the HC, etc, etc
I am an owner driver. I am totaly against the DCPC for myself as I will lose a full weeks work every time I have to attend a course. Plus I have to pay for the course. I have been an hgv driver in full employment for 34 years during which time Ihave driven most types of vehicles and covered much of europe. I am currently operating to and from Benelux.I am frequently stopped by various enforcment agencies here and in europe.(English truck,Dutch trailor sets vosas alarm off!) Absolutly never any problems,well maintained equipment and legal tachos. Aways a polite and positve encounter on both sides. This is because over the last 34 years I have taken the time to watch,listen and learn. I get regular updates from VOSA,which are helpful. HOWEVER I CANNOT SEE what more I can learn by sitting in a class room and losing thousands of pounds . I am pretty sure that I would learn at the class , not least the fact that it does not pay to be there.If you are in a position to be paid to go , then great. Otherwise come 2014 I will be selling up.On another subject, Happy Keith,what a load of gob ■■■■■ you spout.Whilst I agree the EU has problems it aint all bad!!! can you tell me why any self respecting Turk would want to come to a country like this .In case you missed it Turkeys economy out performed Germany and left us way way behind .There is now a labour shortage in Turkey.Plus better weather!
I can not see the point in it unless one is going to change jobs ie from tanker work to car transport or livestock, I hhave been doing the same job 38 years,I know it is sad but what do you think the driver cpc will do for me
Although most who do the DCPC will sit several different modules you can repeat the same module if you want, no rules saying you can’t, but as said it would be easier and cost effective for the driver who is forced to fund it him/herself, as they wouldn’t have to miss out on 5 days pay or work being bored to death in some classroom, although i believe some are held in pubs ect if they could just ring up book the DCPC days/course pay the fee and get the cert at the end of it without actually attending it,
If they did that then they could reduce the cost further, they would soon be fully booked lol
j.gooch:
‘…Happy Keith,what a load of gob [zb] you spout.Whilst I agree the EU has problems it aint all bad!!! can you tell me why any self respecting Turk would want to come to a country like this …’
Calm down, dear.
I have never stated that the EU is ‘…all bad…’ because I’ve lived, worked & extensively travelled on mainland Europe for seven years and absolutely loved, enjoyed and respected it. But perhaps more valid is that I wish for the best practice to be democratically absorbed - where appropriate - into my own country too.
Perhaps a mis-conclusion has been allowed to happen somewhere? You seem angry
If any info reference, for instance, the spread of Sharia Law or other such cultural based larks from foreign places is needed, this arguably aint the place for it - but many warnings of a general desire for some infidel haters to spread their influence upon the UK in that regard are out there.
Just done my first 7 hours toward the DCPC. It was at a hotel in West Drayton and it was very interesting and worthwhile.
Was in work at 07:00 this morning and got back at 18:30, four of us went in my car, so 11.5 hours pay for a nice easy day. Lunch and refreshments were provided, tea and coffee were available throughout although we also had a morning and afternoon coffee break in addition to the lunch one. There were a dozen people on the course plus the trainer and we had a set of questions to answer just before the lunch break, written answers not multiple choice and a further set of questions at the end of the afternoon, I scored 38 out of 38 and no it wasn’t tacho questions. It wasn’t all drivers on the course today, there was an area manager and a couple of other managers from our company doing the DCPC as well.
During the afternoon coffee break as the trainer also does the driver’s hours and WTD course, one of the managers raised the topic of the WTD 6 hour break thing with him. He said one of his drivers was claiming you had to take 30 minutes at 5.5 hours because the work and the 30 minute break had to fit into the 6 hours and despite him pointing out the regulations to this driver he was having none of it. I was poised for action but the trainer confirmed the guy was talking ■■■■■■■■, by using the wording of the regulations where it says no mobile worker shall work for more than 6 hours without a break and not 5.5 hours, and then went on to point out it was only 15 minutes of break required at that point. I wasn’t expecting that.
All in all it was an enjoyable day and looking forward to the next one.
I to am an o/d i also think this dcpc is a waste of time and money
i have done a cpc course in order to be my own transport manager years ago,as a driver i do my walk round checks i also have a vehicle defect reporting system in place in order to report any defects to myself !! as i then fix said defect and sign them off as rectified myself, then every 6 weeks theres the p/m check to keep the o/licence in order again done by myself ! i also repair other hauliers trucks and trailers and test them.
all my trucks and trailers have gone through the test first time in the last 8 years, i have done the adr course to gain the 21 hrs t’ward the dcpc but dont see why i should sit in a classroom with some numpty that cant tell if a tyre is legal or not
once everyone has the dcpc the thing will be a worthless/pointless bit of paper anyway,the real reason is to raise money and give an easy job to some instructor that was most likely not much use at the job anyway!
I never said i know it all but some have more to learn than others
as for it raising the profile of the industry thats just utter ■■■■ although i can see it may well be a steady jolly for an employed driver
moose
Moose:
‘… the dcpc … thing will be a worthless/pointless bit of paper anyway,the real reason is to raise money and give an easy job to some instructor that was most likely not much use at the job anyway…!’
Agreed.
Sorry for the soap box drone, but I also reckon that Big Brother is beating this industry with this Big Stick legislation because the EU leaders realise that the real-time drop in wages over the past decades (and more?) has removed much incentive for many individuals to stay switched-on as a matter of their individual professional pride.
Doesn’t that amount to being beaten by our Government twice, ie, they’ve trashed driver’s wages, the driver has begun not to care so the faceless & undemocratic EU is now teaching drivers to care (or have no job) - at individual expense!
Who wanted any of this to begin with? Maybe those that thought the Common Market was a good idea in 1972?
Coffeeholic:
Just done my first 7 hours toward the DCPC. It was at a hotel in West Drayton and it was very interesting and worthwhile.
Was in work at 07:00 this morning and got back at 18:30, four of us went in my car, so 11.5 hours pay for a nice easy day. Lunch and refreshments were provided,.
So you get a day off work out with the lads on full pay and have a nice easy day!
Typical response all very chummy no wonder you think its a good idea!
What about those who don’t get paid for the so called day out, who have to loose a days pay, and then have to pay for the course themselves and also pay there own travelling expenses.
I bet you wouldn’t think it was such a good idea if all the costs came out of your own pocket!
Coffeeholic:
Just done my first 7 hours toward the DCPC. It was at a hotel in West Drayton and it was very interesting and worthwhile.
Was in work at 07:00 this morning and got back at 18:30, four of us went in my car, so 11.5 hours pay for a nice easy day. Lunch and refreshments were provided,.
So you get a day off work out with the lads on full pay and have a nice easy day!
Typical response all very chummy no wonder you think its a good idea!
What about those who don’t get paid for the so called day out, who have to loose a days pay, and then have to pay for the course themselves and also pay there own travelling expenses.
I bet you wouldn’t think it was such a good idea if all the costs came out of your own pocket!
Coffeeholic:
Just done my first 7 hours toward the DCPC. It was at a hotel in West Drayton and it was very interesting and worthwhile.
Was in work at 07:00 this morning and got back at 18:30, four of us went in my car, so 11.5 hours pay for a nice easy day. Lunch and refreshments were provided,.
So you get a day off work out with the lads on full pay and have a nice easy day!
Typical response all very chummy no wonder you think its a good idea!
What response did you want? Did you want me to lie and say it was a load of crap just so it would match your view? It was a good day and I benefited from it which makes it worthwhile as far as I am concerned. Also note I didn’t get a day off work, if I had done I would have been at home and not on a course.
moomooland: What about those who don’t get paid for the so called day out, who have to loose a days pay, and then have to pay for the course themselves and also pay there own travelling expenses.
I bet you wouldn’t think it was such a good idea if all the costs came out of your own pocket!
As I have posted many times I probably wouldn’t be paying for it from my own pocket as I would either change jobs to get it paid or just buy one. I even might pay for it as the cost per day works out to small change to keep doing a simple, easy, stress free job that requires very little effort and pays good money so the cost to reward thing would make the outlay more than worthwhile. One of the reasons I am sticking with my current job is because I do get the DCPC paid for, which is my choice just as it is your choice to do what you have chosen to do.
Our company (who employ over 1500 drivers nationwide) are doing a one day course each year but that is between Christmas and New Year on the 27th of December each year when we are closed, so you have to attend when on holiday!
Many drivers go away at that time every year so the only alternative is to pay for a weeks course sometime in 2014 at your own expense with a week off unpaid!!
Our company (who employ over 1500 drivers nationwide) are doing a one day course each year but that is between Christmas and New Year on the 27th of December each year when we are closed, so you have to attend when on holiday!
So you don’t actually have to pay for it if you don’t want to?
If the 27th is one of your statutory holiday days, and you only get the legal minimum (usually 28 day), then they will have to give you another days holiday in lieu otherwise you will have less than the legal minimum amount of holidays.
Our company (who employ over 1500 drivers nationwide) are doing a one day course each year but that is between Christmas and New Year on the 27th of December each year when we are closed, so you have to attend when on holiday!
So you don’t actually have to pay for it if you don’t want to?
If the 27th is one of your statutory holiday days, and you only get the legal minimum (usually 28 day), then they will have to give you another days holiday in lieu otherwise you will have less than the legal minimum amount of holidays.
I notice you left the last paragraph out of your quote!
“Many drivers go away at that time every year so the only alternative is to pay for a weeks course sometime in 2014 at your own expense with a week off unpaid!!”
So in your eyes you would expect people to return home from their holiday for a day then fly or drive back to join their familes at were ever they were staying?
Our company (who employ over 1500 drivers nationwide) are doing a one day course each year but that is between Christmas and New Year on the 27th of December each year when we are closed, so you have to attend when on holiday!
So you don’t actually have to pay for it if you don’t want to?
If the 27th is one of your statutory holiday days, and you only get the legal minimum (usually 28 day), then they will have to give you another days holiday in lieu otherwise you will have less than the legal minimum amount of holidays.
I notice you left the last paragraph out of your quote!
“Many drivers go away at that time every year so the only alternative is to pay for a weeks course sometime in 2014 at your own expense with a week off unpaid!!”
So in your eyes you would expect people to return home from their holiday for a day then fly or drive back to join their familes at were ever they were staying?
GET REAL
But the option is there for you to get it paid for you, it’s your choice not to take advantage of that.
Personally i would just go on holiday at a different time.
This excellent post, written by Mike Perris, sums the whole situation very well (especially the line about “those who run the courses, do the documentation and take the fees”) and appears courtesy of the Red Tape Challenge web site
The Driver CPC was introduced “as a good idea” and in principle it is and there it ends. The UK DSA volunteered in Brussels to pilot this scheme whereby it would be monitored for success and duly rolled out across the EU member states. There was very little if any sensible consultation with people who know and work in the industry which it affects before it was given the go ahead, but there were lots of highly paid consultants there who were paid for by the British taxpayer. We have a lot of positive feedback from the DSA and other bodies with a vested interest in job creation to keep the whole thing alive. However the feed back from its customers is quite different insomuch that it is unnecessary, unwanted, wastes time for all concerned (with the exception of those who run the courses, do the documentation and take the fees). When you consider the cost of the course, the value added time lost by its attendees and the cost of a truck standing idle and multiply that up across the UK it is hundreds of millions of pounds waste!! Who pays? The end user, whoever uses what is transported!! Shame. In conclusion the old adage of “if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it” really does apply here, attend the course day dream and go home.
It wasn’t all drivers on the course today, there was an area manager and a couple of other managers from our company doing the DCPC as well.
