Earlier this week the first milestone in Driver CPC was reached. 10 September 2013 was the date that bus and coach drivers had to have completed 35-hours of training to retain their right to continue driving professionally. But where does this leave our European friends?
Back in the UK, the passing of the deadline for PCV license holders means that LGV drivers have a year left to complete their Driver CPC training, otherwise they’re out of a job.
The Hub will stick its neck out and make its own generalisation that the majority of Motor Transport readers are well aware of the importance of Driver CPC to their businesses and have already addressed the issue.
However, it’s looking like there will be a part of the market that could struggle with steady anecdotal evidence from many hauliers that at least a percentage of their workforce – those nearing retirement – can’t or won’t undertake the training. It will be a busy year ahead.
If manpower is short next autumn, potentially at a time when the UK economy is continuing its upswing, that could push costs up for all operators – large and small. Certainly, Mick Jackson, chief executive of Skills for Logistics has issued repeated warnings on this very point.
But could we rely on other countries in the EU to plug any gap? While 10 September 2014 is the deadline the UK is running to for Driver CPC, it is not the ultimate deadline set out by the European Commission directive. That is 10 September 2016 and some of our Continental rivals are working to this, some two years after our own self-imposed deadline.
So if you are a professional driver in Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal (for those over 50 years old), Belgium, Spain (specific to particular licences), Sweden and Norway (those with a current licence expiry dates of 2018) you have until 10 September 2016 to complete your training.
That’s a lot of potential manpower to draw on – but will it be available?
The following, somewhat clunky line from the EC suggests so (it’s contained in a Driver CPC progress report published last year):
Mutual recognition of the transitional periods decided by the Member States has been agreed. Accordingly, until the deadline of 2015 (vehicle category D) and 2016 (vehicle category C), drivers cannot be penalised in any Member State for not having completed the periodic training.
That suggests that no action will be taken against drivers from the Continent for not having Driver CPC until that date, but whether they will be eligible to drive in the UK is another thing. As ever with the Driver CPC, the answer is not immediately clear but The Hub is investigating.