SAFED Instructor

About the course

 The SAFED Instructor course gave me the tools to be able to confidently deliver the SAFED Initial and Refresher course to Cat C and Cat C+E drivers in line with the requirements of JAUPT. Prior to the course I did not have an understanding of SAFED or its principals so it was a real eye opener. As a reasonably inexperienced professional driver myself it has certainly improved my skills and knowledge through both classroom and practical sessions. I am now confident training driver’s with far more years’ experience behind the wheel than me, with positive results. It is possible to change an experienced drivers behaviour to include new technology.

 How its help at MAXIM with DCPC

 At Maxim Logistics the SAFED course has assisted in enhancing the skills of our drivers and increased the driver awareness of costs associated to poor or inappropriate driving. Not only direct financial costs, but also indirect costs and to improve their health also. On the training day we consistently see improvements of +10% in fuel economy and a time saving on the route. We have also then seen an improvement in driver behaviour and fuel economy day to day within the business. Link this with camera footage and telematics data to assist in continuous improvement for our drivers, these are all tools to get the best from them. It is also encouraging a healthy competition between drivers with regard to driver behaviour linking to increased MPG. We also deliver other DCPC modules to our own drivers as part of the WTTL Consortium. The advantage is that we are able to schedule courses to suit the business needs, and also target areas of concern amongst the drivers to increase awareness and refresh on their responsibilities. As we are aware of the issues our drivers face day to day we are able to relate to their concerns when delivering the modules, whilst covering the subject areas required as part of the course criteria.

 General overview

Personally the knowledge and experienced gained from WTTL is invaluable. The instructors are approachable and if I have an issue, they are quick to respond and clarify. With the WTTL trainers coming from varied backgrounds there is always an SME to get the most accurate information from, or they know where to get the information. The course content is kept current with plenty of choice of modules to deliver. We at Maxim are now on target for ensuring all our drivers have completed the DCPC hours prior to Sept, and also looking at the next round ready for drivers completing DCPC hours ahead of requirement.