This level of increase is unprecedented in the current climate. While some drivers may see a 1 to 2.5% increase in pay next year for many pay will remain unchanged. The cost of Driver CPC training is being born directly by most drivers and any increase will incense this already financially hard pressed group .  

Training organisations are struggling to keep prices down. Drivers have to accept that when they are paying minimum prices they are going to get minimum service, as the saying goes “you get what you pay for.” Many drivers believe that the RSA collect the training fees that the drivers pay, however this is not the case. For the purposes of clarity, lets bring you through how Driver CPC is financed. 

The RSA cover the following coast: Driver CPC Radio and internet advertising. Management of the Driver CPC data base data base
Supply of the the driver’s qualification card, fullfilment and postage. They provide and manage a back office function and maintain telephone and online support. Creating the training manual content is also covered by the RSA and they get industry specialists to support the module review groups. These specialists do not charge for their time, they are only entitled to receive travel expenses. The training module PowerPoint presentations are provided free of charge to the training organisations along with the artwork for the manuals. The RSA have the training organisations monitored and approve the trainers. The RSA pay a company to visit training centres on training days and review the performance of the trainer and the quality of the training centre itself. There is no direct cost to the driver for these services. It is important at this point to say that we have no idea what the RSA’s budgetory spend on Driver CPC is. 

You may be interested to know that the RSA are only implementing and managing the regulation that the EU require to be carried out by all member states. You can down load a copy of the regulation below. In it, you will see that the RSA are charged with the implementation and regulation. 

The training fees that drivers pay go directly to the training company. The average fee is between € 50 and € 60. Out of these fees the training organisation cover the cost of the training room, the training materials,  pay the trainer, provide refreshments, provide a booking service, advertise their training days, provide customer support services, register training with the RSA, provide all of the forms and training manuals and stationary required on the day. 

Under ‘Drivers Hours Regulations’ the driver may have to declare the regulatory seven hours training as other work.  What this actually means is that the driver may be using one of his available work days, but may not get paid for it.  If the driver has to travel to training, as the training centre may not be their regular place of work, under the Revenue rules they could be able to claim travel expenses and because they may be away from their place of work for more that five hours they would also be entitled to a tax free subsistence allowance.  

Most drivers pay for the training out of their own pocket. They are missing out on all of the tax free benefits that are available and it seems like nobody really cares.  Many drivers have completed the same module twice in the same cycle, in which case one of the modules is not counted towards periodic training. 

There is a lot of negative feelings towards Driver CPC however it may be mostly because Drivers feel that they have not been properly informed about the training. As a group they have no official representation body to provide input into the training or into how the financial burden could be lessened.  Drivers currently have to accept any increases in charges as they have no choice but to accept any increases if they want to keep earning a living from their profession.