It was reported by Commercial Motor yesterday that the United Road Transport Union (URTU) were raided by the Greater Manchester Police, where seven men were arrested and released on bail for fraud offences relating to Driver CPC.

This incident comes after the removal of their Driver CPC training approval by JAUPT back in December 2011 following a course that was held by URTU on September 4th 2011, for which there were 31 candidates present. Each driver paid £20 for the course, which included lunch.

Following the completion of the course two formal complaints were made to the DSA, noting that although the training was logged at 7 hours, the course began at 9am and ended at 2:15pm, with two 40 minute breaks inbetween. There were also some concerns regarding the quality of the training that the candidates had received. At the time this latest news went to press URTU were unavailable for comment.

The United Road Transport Union (URTU) became the first organisation in the UK to have their Driver CPC training approval removed by JAUPT and this news is a stark reminder why every Driver CPC training provider must adhere to regulations.

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Logistics operators and hauliers may have to park-up vehicles if drivers leave the mandatory Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) training too late, the UK's largest insurer Aviva has warned.

Steve Palmer, from Aviva said: "A lot of firms are underestimating the severity of the situation if they leave it too late. With around only 2,000 approved trainers, there is a real chance of a bottleneck as the deadline approaches."

There are around 500,000 HGV driving licence holders in the UK and under new legislation each one will be required to do 35 hours of training by 2014.

However, Aviva's accredited Driver CPC training provider, RAC Risk Management, reported that only 1% of those expected to take up courses have done so, sparking fresh fears over whether the freight industry will meet the 2014 deadline.

John Davidge, Training Manager at RAC Risk Management, said: "We'd expect to train in the region of 10% of our target by the end of the year and that this would steadily increase as we approach the deadline. Such a small number of companies are coming forward that this looks doubtful and it's becoming increasingly likely that we'll reach a bottleneck."

With only a small proportion of drivers qualified, Aviva is urging hauliers to set up a training plan to avoid having to remove drivers from the road if the deadline isn't met.

Palmer said: "There has been alarmingly little take-up of Driver CPC courses despite wide promotion for more than a year. Operators know they have to do something, but for whatever reason - costs, recession or high staff turnover - there has been a reluctance to get the ball rolling.

"The benefits are considerable. By improving driving standards it will lead to better fuel economy, less wear and tear on vehicles - and fewer accidents.

"There are no real signs that the government will extend the deadline and the worst-case, but very real, scenario is that companies will find that they have to park-up vehicles as they can't get drivers trained in time.

"We urge hauliers to recognise the scale of the task ahead and to act now to avoid thousands of drivers requiring training in an impossible timeframe. A staggered approach is advisable - if you have 200 drivers doing 35 hours training each, it's impossible to do it within a year."

Press release- IWF net.com

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