TIR Training Services offer first UK simulator logistics training for Driver CPC

TIR Training Services has achieved an industry first with two simulator-based courses now approved for Driver CPC periodic training.

The Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training (JAUPT) has accredited the courses, which have been developed by TIR as part of its continuing investment in training programmes using US-built L3 MPRI LGV driving simulators.

The new courses – Driving Down Risk and Driving For Change – are the only simulator-based training courses currently commercially available in the UK and are proven to deliver measurable benefits and cost savings.

Driving Down Risk focuses on manoeuvring at slow speeds and in restricted space, with an emphasis on reducing the chance of collisions and other accidents. Driving For Change covers techniques that result in increased fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Both have been introduced to help businesses not only cut costs but also meet increasingly stringent demands for greenhouse gas reduction.

TIR’s Commercial Manager Tim Watson says simulator-based training could save businesses huge amounts of money. "The potential savings are enormous," he says.

"Simulator based training in the US has delivered a 4 and 6% increase in fuel efficiency and clients are recording a reduction in avoidable accidents of between 20% and 44%. The majority of accidents in the transport industry involve manoeuvring in restricted spaces and typically cost between £1,200 and £1,400.

"This is the only kind of training available in the UK that provides factual information both before and after, to enable an employer to measure the benefits of the training. Our courses are designed to help businesses achieve results, increase efficiency and ultimately see a return on their investment."

Simulator based training is widely used in the USA, where highly-skilled truck drivers benefit from the same kind of cutting-edge simulator technology as that used by pilots and racing drivers. As well as cost-saving benefits, simulator-based training prepares drivers for emergency and extreme situations that could not otherwise be replicated in a training environment, and enables all drivers to receive equal training by exposing them to identical scenarios.

Tim Watson says: "Simulator based training reinforces key principles and techniques learned theoretically, as the driver can put them into practice on the simulator, in a risk-free, safe and low-cost environment.

"This is possibly the most engaging, motivating experience available in driver training today. It’s new, it’s exciting, it’s not a classroom and it’s a setting drivers are comfortable in. It’s a very exciting time to be in logistics training."

TIR offers 16 courses that qualify for Driver CPC meaning that businesses are able to pick the training solution that best fits their business needs. With almost 2,000 drivers booked to train with TIR, anyone interested in simulator-based training or TIR’s Driver CPC courses should get in touch now.

TIR, based in Beverley, East Yorkshire, began trading in 2000 as an LGV driving school and has rapidly grown to become a total training solutions provider to the logistics industry. The company was acquired in 2006 by the Deflog VQ Trust, an educational charitable trust that provides logistic training to the military. Both TIR and Deflog operate as not-for-profit organisations, reinvesting any profits back into the sector.