A recent survey in the UK by the ADLV (Association for Driving Licence Verification & Vehicles) has delivered an emphatic business case for the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) to allow fleets greater access to driver CPC training course attendance data.

The survey of leading transport & fleet logistics managers along with compliance officers & HR directors, was conducted to encourage the DVSA to make the data available directly. The ADLV believes that the DVSA can and should do this by adding CPC course and attendance data to driver data files that are already held and made accessible by the DVLA. The ADLV believes that fleets will use this additional training data to become more compliant, administratively more efficient and to boost road safety.

The survey results revealed that training data is a crucial element of fleet driver management and compliance, with over 75% of those surveyed indicating that that they actively take CPC training courses into consideration when hiring drivers. Nearly all those surveyed carry out DQC (Driver Qualification Card) checks and while 17% wait for them to be presented by the driver in person, the majority (over 52%) use the DVSA temporary password look-up system. This requires a separate password to be supplied in each case.

Most respondents, were keen to end this current ‘wait for a password’ system which causes frustration and delay. Significantly, 9 out of 10 respondents wanted course information to be available (with driver consent) either directly or through their data supplier. This, says the ADLV, could be easily achieved by adding it to existing DVLA licence data, which is readily accessible.

A similarly high percentage felt that visibility of non-compliance alerts and notifications would also help greatly. In addition, over 80% felt that if the information was available with current expiry dates, it would help drive compliance significantly.

Survey respondents also felt that being able to identify a driver’s training topics, through the data, would prevent course duplication and therefore save considerable sums. It would also remove the constant need to chase CPC certificates and facilitate greater confidence that drivers are maintaining their CPC correctly.

Commenting on the results, ADLV Board Member Glyn Jones said, “The current system is not meeting the demands of the fleet sector. However, by enabling easy open access to CPC training course data, through the DVLA, fleets could gain a single source of truth about a drivers’ training – helping them to ensure compliance, efficiency and ultimately road safety. The results of this survey are emphatic and represent a clear and pressing business case for the DVSA to change the system. If required, the ADLV would be happy to help guide them on how best to introduce and apply that change.”