Donald MacLaurin has been with Carntyne Transport for over 26 years and has been the company’s Driver Trainer for the past 11. Donald is responsible for the training and development of over 180 Carntyne drivers. Find out more about Donald and Carntyne’s approved In-House CPC training by authorising body JAUPT.

LET’S HEAR ABOUT DONALD’S CAREER SO FAR…

I started with Carntyne in 1995 as a cask handler/loader at the Disgorging Unit at Blackgrange, mainly dealing with empty casks initially, and then progressed to Forklift Driver. After that, I went out “on the road” with my main duties working on cask loading and unloading and tanker deliveries. In mid-1999, I returned to the Blackgrange site as Carntyne required experienced operators to assist with the new operations. I was then promoted to Site Operations Supervisor in 2000 and I was in that role up until 2010 when an opportunity to take up the role of Driver Trainer presented itself.

Health & Safety was always a big focus for us, and I had a good understanding of our whisky-based operations during my time with the company. My line manager at the time had suggested this was an area I would be strong in and my path was set. My current role involves pre-employment assessment for potential new starts, as well as post incident assessment & remedial training, and annual competency assessment of our drivers. I am responsible for initial or refresher training of our existing drivers on the various tasks we conduct on our daily business which are split into 3 categories: cask drivers, tanker drivers and general-purpose drivers.

It’s never Groundhog Day and I enjoy so many different aspects of the role whether it’s a new-start coming on board, taking them from novice to competent operator or taking an experienced operator and training them on new tasks or equipment. I also enjoy the creation of DCPC courses and delivering to the drivers to ensure DCPC compliance and being involved in the creation of the Safe Systems of Work for new equipment. I also enjoy being part of the Carntyne team, when a driver or a traffic planner has a problem, and they call for assistance, and if I can help them, it gives me a good feeling knowing that I have helped.

WHAT IS CPC TRAINING?

The Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) qualification is in place across Europe with the aim of improving road safety and maintaining high standards of driving. Each driver must complete 35 hours of periodic training every 5 years to keep their CPC qualification. For Carntyne drivers, this includes five 7-hour training sessions within the 5 years.

Carrying out CPC training in-house means Carntyne have the flexibility to undertake the courses at a time that suits the business and the drivers, keeping customer requirements as a key priority. Each driver is responsible for their own CPC qualification. However, Carntyne offer CPC training for each of their drivers in working time, supporting them in making up their training hours. Donald carries out the training across four locations - Springburn, Blackgrange, Aberlour and Inverness. The training is classroom based with driver participation throughout and includes subjects that are relevant to the drivers and their specific roles.

Carntyne create a bespoke course using the JAUPT syllabus. Some of these subjects include Legislation, Health & Safety, Emergencies, First Aid, Economic Environment, and Vulnerable Road Users.

The current live sessions Donald is carrying out include driver hours regulations, tachograph rules, vulnerable road users, accident awareness, manual handling, driver compliance, and fuel efficiency. Donald changes the courses to keep the information up-to-date and relevant for the drivers.