SHOULD FITTERS AND MECHANICS BE EXEMPT?
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Exactly who should be required to hold the Driver CPC is still a matter of some debate within the industry. As things stand, mechanics and fitters who occasionally need to take a truck on the road will be required to take a CPC.
But the Freight Transport Association (FTA) thinks that they should have an exemption because their truck driving is incidental to their central role of maintaining and fixing vehicles. In other words, argues the RA, they are not professional drivers, and if they have to take a vehicle for its annual test, they should be allowed to do so without holding a Driver CPC.
Joan Williams, the FTA's head of road freight policy, met with officials from the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) last month about a potential exemption for mechanics and fitters and is awaiting the DSAs response.