On the road with Novadata

The UK road transport industry needs a great number of skilled and talented transport managers, in both the haulage and passenger transport sectors.

Many skilled managers have retired in recent years, so the industry urgently needs an influx of well trained and qualified new managers.
The road transport industry is therefore an excellent one in which to carve out a new career after leaving the forces, providing a rewarding new challenge, as well as an opportunity to use your existing skills and develop new ones. You will need additional skills and knowledge as the armed forces are exempt from some of the laws and rules which apply to civilian road transport. In civilian life, you will need to know and observe them all. To demonstrate that you have acquired the necessary knowledge and skills, you will need to qualify for the Certificate of Professional Competence for Transport Managers or Manager CPC (also known as Management CPC.)
Any transport organisation which transports good for customers in vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes or transports passengers in vehicles with more than nine seats must have an Operator Licence in order to operate legally. Manager CPC is the minimum qualification for holding an Operator Licence, which is essential to the legal operation of the business.
Manager CPC is accredited by the OCR examination board and covers both National and International operations. You will need to choose either road haulage or passenger transport as a career, as the Management CPC course will be specific to one of these disciplines. Qualifications are not transferable across transport sectors, so if you gain a Manager CPC qualification in Passenger Transport and later wish to change career to manage in Road Haulage (or vice versa), you will need to train for a new qualification.
All candidates must successfully complete two examinations, the first of these is a multiple-choice format examination, the second being comprised of questions regarding case studies, giving you a chance to demonstrate what decisions you would make in a given situation. These are known as Multiple Choice (R1) and Case Study (R2) for road haulage and Multiple Choice (P1) and Case Study (P2) for passenger transport. Provided you pass both assessments, you can then apply for posts as a transport manager, with a recognised qualification that will allow you to work in any European transport organisation which operates vehicle of more than 3.5 tonnes or with more than nine seats.
Novadata is one of the foremost providers of Manager CPC training in the UK, with an exceptionally high pass mark and an approval rating from candidates to match. We use only former transport professionals as course tutors, so they know not only the theory, but also the practice of running a successful transport organisation. Novadata is also accredited by OCR as an examination centre, so you can sit your examinations in familiar surroundings once you have completed your training. We also run Manager CPC Refresher courses, because the law does change from time to time, as does best practice, and it is essential to stay up to date.
The Manager CPC is a Level 3 qualification which makes it eligible for funding from the Enhanced Learning Credits Administration Service (ELCAS), which is available for training and development on leaving the forces and settling into a civilian career. In order to qualify for ELCAS funding, the course you choose must lead to a nationally recognised qualification at level 3 or above on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The Manager CPC course for either Road Haulage or Passenger Transport does qualify as a level 3 course. ELCAS normally provides 80% of the total cost of the course and examination fees, with the candidate being required to fund the remaining 20%. This is a relatively modest investment in a future career, especially when there is considerable demand for holders of the Manager CPC qualification.
The Manager CPC course prepares candidates for all the technical and legal aspects of either passenger transport or road haulage management and equips them with the knowledge required to establish and manage an efficient transport operation, fulfilling the Operator Licence undertakings.
The transport manager is responsible for ensuring that all the company’s drivers understand and use their tachographs correctly and will also be responsible for keeping accurate records of these readouts. The transport manager is expected to ensure the observation of the Drivers Hours rules and to make sure that there are no breaches of the Working Time Directive as it relates to transport.
The relevant aspects of Health & Safety are covered by the course, equipping candidates to be vigilant over H&S issues. The importance of planned preventative management is emphasised as this is key to the Operator Licence undertaking to keep vehicles maintained in a roadworthy condition. It is the transport manager’s responsibility to ensure that accurate records are kept of all daily vehicle checks made, defects found and rectification of faults, as well as ongoing routine maintenance checks. Safe loading of vehicles and transit of goods is explained and best practice encouraged to ensure a strict adherence to safety on the road.
The Manager CPC course also covers highly useful administrative and skills such as financial management, vehicle costing, driver licencing and international transport documentation. Operator licensing is explained in detail; this knowledge is essential as the transport manager carries most of the responsibility for their organisation maintaining a healthy Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS) and remaining safe and legal on the road. If the company is ever the subject of an inspection, the OCRS is a rating given to a number of key aspects of compliance in processes and record keeping; if the OCRS drops in just a few key areas, the Operator Licence can be suspended or withdrawn, which often results in the closure of the business.
Applying for a Manager CPC course for either Road Haulage or Passenger Transport is relatively simple. First, you must ensure that the training provider that you choose is an approved training provider for the MOD’s Enhanced Learning Credits (ELC) scheme. Novadata is one of the leading training providers with this approval. We also recommend contacting the training provider of your choice to find out more about the course and whether this is a suitable route for you to develop a career in transport management. We receive an increasing number of enquiries from people leaving the forces and we are always happy to chat through your options. Novadata offers an MOD resettlement training package tailored specifically for forces leavers. Once you have decided to take the course, we will provide you with a written quote for the cost of the course to give to your resettlement officer so that your ELCAS funding can be approved. This can be emailed or posted to you so you can pass it on.
The course itself lasts for nine days. One of these is a revision day and one is the actual exam day. Our trainers will guide you through the course, providing the information that you will need and helping you to retain it so you can demonstrate your knowledge under exam conditions. You will normally need to pay your share in advance of starting the course in order to guarantee a place, but it is often possible for the training provider to invoice ELCAS directly for 80% of the cost of the course so that you can get started sooner, and will not be out of pocket while you are waiting for funding to come through.
If you plan on driving from time to time as well as managing a fleet, you will also need to complete 35 hours of periodic Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) training. Your Manager CPC course can be recognised by JAUPT, the body which governs Driver CPC training, as qualifying for the full 35 hours. We can organise this when you book your Manager CPC course.
Many of the skills that you have acquired while serving in the forces will stand you in good stead as a transport manager; the Manager CPC qualification is an excellent way to harness and improve on them so you can make a smooth and successful transition to a career in civilian transport management.