Following on from another thread, and not wishing to hijack more than I already have, I thought I’d post this information to help newbies with their training provider decision.
LGV instructors only have to be LGV drivers - this is unlike cars where the instructor has to be qualified. There is a voluntary register that a minority of LGV instructors have joined. Apart from substantial fees, the trainer has to take a theory test (roughly similar to the one for drivers but including a chunk of questions on training techniques, rules and regs and driver licencing), a hazard perception test, a driving test (max 6 minor marks for a pass) and then a test of instructional ability. The last one is the “killer”. In fact I know of one trainer in Nottm who has failed this repeatedly over a number of years and has now given up. He’s still taking money from people of course.
Many trainers are let down by their lack of facilities and standards of truck. To become a DSA Accredited Centre you have to show a private reversing area, correct documentation for each and every truck and the trucks must be equipped with fire extinguisher, first aid kit and warning triangle. The trucks are checked each year by a senior examiner from DSA complete with all the records. These centres have to produce a syllabus showing the order of events during training, they must keep detailed training progress reports and all this is subject to scrutiny. Most trainers dont bother with any of this.
To achieve and maintain the status of DSA Accredited centre, the establishment may only employ fully qualified and registered DSA instructors with the exception of trainers reaching the end of their qualification process. (This mirrors the car system pretty well).
To check if a centre is actually accredited - plenty claim to be but are not - there is a certificate which has to be displayed in an obvious place eg reception area. All instructors who are fully qualified and registered have a blue badge with their photo on it displayed on the windscreen. If it’s not there, ask why not. It probably doesn’t exist. The badge also stipulates the classes of vehicle that person is qualified and registed to train on together with an expiry date. All except the photo is clearly visible from the outside of the truck. Trainers in the latter stages of qualification have certificates for each pass through the process. These people can only train once they are up to the test of instructional ability though they may not have taken/passed this. Their work has to be overseen for 20% of the time by a qualified instructor.
I hope this shows, in part, the hoops that some of us jump through to prove our worth. As always, I must make it clear that there are some perfectly good trainers out there who have yet to see the value of being registered.
From the public’s point of view, being accredited means to us that the standards MUST be maintained in all departments. The very last thing we would want is a complaint into the DSA because, for us, they have teeth. The guy trundling about and parking in the pub car park is completely out of the scope of DSA. And this, I believe, leaves the punter in a vulnerable position.
As always, buyer beware.
Pete 