WHEN THE TRAINEE BECOMES THE TEACHER – BACKLINE UPSKILLS HGV DRIVER TO BECOME PART OF THE TRAINING TEAM


Upskill hgv driver

When Richard Stentiford was promoted to Head of Division at Backline Training in January he made it his mission to strengthen the training team, so he’s delighted to welcome former HGV Driver, Paul Warrener, into the training family.

 

“Paul is a very experienced HGV Driver and has been a part of the Backline family since 2020, but he decided that it was time to diversify his experience and we were more than happy to invest in his professional development so that he could join us on the training team,” said Richard.

 

When recruiting trainers to join the team there are several key competencies they need to display, such as:

 

  • An appetite for paperwork and processes
  • Ability to hold a conversation and answer questions in an articulate way
  • The confidence to present in front of a room full of strangers
  • A good communicator who is engaging and puts people at ease
  • Being an active listener
  • Ability to remain agile under pressure and improvise in the moment

 

“Due to his experience, Paul is currently running the trailer training with vans and trailers (B+E licence holders), but over the next few months he’ll be completing a two-week AITT training course which will stand him in good stead to become a CPC instructor. Then within 12 months we’ll look at him becoming SQA approved,” added Richard.

 

To keep up with current demand, additional training dates have been added to Backline’s training calendar, where courses can be booked as far in advance as December 2022

 

So, if your Driver CPC is due for renewal within the next six months, or you need to put additional drivers through their ADR licence, this is your reminder to book a date in the diary as soon as you possibly can to avoid disappointment, also keep in mind we will cover any  MHE (Mechanical Handling Equipment) training needed at short notice, we are seeing a high demand for Lorry Mounted Loader and FKLT CB training as well as many other bits of MHE!

 

In the meantime, Richard is nurturing Paul and building his confidence so that the transition from HGV Driver to Trainer is as smooth as possible.

 

Expect to see Paul taking the lead during training sessions in due course.