Drivers Academy opens it’s doors.
July 23, 2014 | By Matthew Tyldesley | No Comments
Expert Logistics has been faced with a conundrum for some time:
“How do we get the very best customer service agents who can also drive 7.5 tonne vehicles?”
That’s always been a tough question for us because giving a fantastic customer experience is what we are all about, and finding HGV drivers with the right attitude can sometimes be a difficult task.
That’s because we don’t just want your run of the mill ‘drop off and drive on’ drivers. We want them to give something extra to our customers. Which is why there was only ever one real solution to this problem – Let’s find the best customer service agents and train them up to be drivers ourselves.
And that’s exactly what we did. Say hello to our brand new drivers academy, now being run from all of our depots nationwide!
The planning for the Academy began way back in December 2013, and has been a tough process for all those involved in getting the project up and running. Reg Sanders from our driver quality team has been one of those responsible for ironing out all the legal requirements for our academy and it’s cadets:
“to be fair we are a logistics company – NOT a training company and so we had to make sure everything was properly covered before we started, to protect us and more importantly to protect the new candidates”
Earn while you learn!
The doors finally opened at the end of April this year, and we currently have 51 crews across all depots on the driving academy, and recruitment is still going strong.
It takes approximately 10 weeks to progress the drivers from category B licence (3.5t vehicle) to category C1 licence(7.5t vehicle) – then a further 8 – 10 weeks to pay back any advanced funding.
“The Academy was a perfect example of ‘necessity being the mother of Invention’ – we needed a new way to recruit and bring a good quality of driver into the business. We had to come up with a revolutionary way to recruit – we call it: ‘Earn while you Learn”.
So It’s exciting times ahead for the group. Not only because it will undoubtedly help us become stronger in the market as we progress, but it’s yet another reason why we are the number one, 2 man delivery service in the UK.