We’ve all seen the advertisements for Driving Test Instructors that encourage people with a license to pass on what they’ve learnt by going into business themselves and teaching people how to drive.
The hours can be anti-social, you must have an account with Debenhams underwear department for continual replacements, be on first-name terms with petrol station attendants and your car or van insurance premium must be astronomic. But other than that, it pays well.
However, there may be an even better opportunity for those wishing to teach the ways of the road, only this time around from a purely commercial sense.
Come September 2014, new EU regulations come into force, which will govern passenger transport, lorry and van drivers who want to tout their trade on home and foreign shores. As things stand, with a lack of training centres inaugurated, the Freight Transport Association are mindful of a) ingratiating the sector with trainers who are savvy with the new regulations b) not only finding enough drivers who will have to have relative ancillary products on their van insurance to cover them on the continent but will also need to attain the relevant qualification, gleaned from appropriate instruction courses.
EU roads will be safe driving haven?
In order to qualify for the European Driving License, without which commercial vehicle drivers may as well forget about earning any more no claims bonuses towards their next van insurance policy, an extensive, recognised assessment must be undergone and satisfactorily passed.
The duration for the modules which make up the new Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) is approximately 35 hours and can be sat over a maximum stretch of five years. Obviously, if you wish to carry on driving your van in 2014, that window of opportunity is closing more rapidly than the maximum course allowance, so you need to act sharply.
At current examination rates, it is estimated that less than two thirds will have successfully attained the DCPC in time for its introduction. The very real worry is that, by the time the industry realises its in trouble, there will be insufficient trainers to train that remaining 100,000 professional drivers. And it is a concern globally – UK distribution outlets, van insurance providers, public transport services – so many areas that rely on qualified drivers will have their bottom line threatened by a lack of available talent.
So, yes – vehicle driving instruction does have its drawbacks, with the worry-lines, alcohol depravation when you need it most and a van insurance premium equivalent to a premier league player’s weekly wage packet, but the foundations have been laid by the EU to make it a very prosperous venture, if you step up to the commercial plate.