The last piece of HGV LGV network member Ritchies’ road haulage training jigsaw was put in place in December with the creation of an LGV driving test area within the huge complex at Hobden Street, Glasgow.
Now candidates can complete their LGV training and PCV training course on site with their official test on the 70,000 pounds designated tarmac area.
Driving Standards Agency (DSA) Examiners visit Ritchies three times a week (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,) testing drivers on rigids, artics and buses (categories C1, C, C+E, D1, D and D+E.)
Company founder Walter Ritchie, who moved from road haulage to driver training in 1983, has continuously developed roads related instruction courses to now cover ADR, Driver CPC, Operator CPC, health and safety, plus forklift and lorry loader training, even scaling the heights of tower crane operating certification.
Known for keeping the cost of training down to affordable levels, Ritchies arrange to run individual LGV medicals in group bookings, charged at only 50 pounds per driver.
Ritchies are also up to speed with the recent merging of national and international syllabuses for the CPC in transport management.
Looking to the future, the great debate on whether LGV training should be carried out on loaded vehicles will roll on for another two or three years, reckons Walter Ritchie who questions the increased wear and tear element on his training vehicles and the necessity to have the unit weighed at regular intervals.
