The Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association have both welcomed the Driving Standards Agency’s review on the possibility of exempting technicians testing vehicles from the scope of the Driver CPC.
The two associations recently wrote a joint letter to transport minister Stephen Hammond, where they voiced concern at the advice given by the Department for Transport.
The DfT had said that garage technicians and mechanics that drive heavy vehicles to statutory annual tests would be seen as in –scope of the Driver CPC Directive.
The FTA and RHA said they felt the directive was never intended to cover such activity, and that it would impose burden on the industry for the estimated 30,000 technicians to achieve full compliance in just over a year, seeing as it would deliver little benefit.
“We’re really pleased that government has listened to our case and has acted so quickly to try to provide a solution, said the FTA’s chief executive, Theo de Pencier.
