A proud line-up of Manline trucks.

If ever there was a time when driver training needed to be positioned on the highest rung of priority in all transport operations that time is now. Yet the interest shown towards this critical input remains predominantly dormant. Manline, one of South Africa’s most respected logistics groups, is bucking this trend writes Patrick O’Leary.

Walking the talk when it comes to attracting and retaining drivers to the highest standards of professionalism is not the most visible trait seen among transport companies today. Far better to leave the training to others and then just poach the drivers when they exit someone else’s classroom and enter the cab.

Craig Warr, operations director of Manline, tells FleetWatch that out of every 100 Code EC, PrDP qualified drivers who apply for jobs at Manline, their screening and selection process yields only seven who are employable. That’s a 7% hit rate. And this from drivers who are currently on the road driving interlinks. Frightening isn’t it?

It’s no wonder then that Warr, when asked in the June 2009 edition of FleetWatch what the then new Minister of Transport, Sibusiso Ndebele, should address as priorities in the industry, stated: “The shortage of professional truck drivers needs to be urgently addressed. The industry needs an effective training structure incorporating driver health management and wellness.”

As mentioned, walking the talk is not common when it comes to driver training but FleetWatch is thrilled to report that Manline is doing just that – walking its talk with the opening of a new state-of-the-art driver recruitment and training centre at its head-office in Pietermaritzburg.

The opening was a grand affair celebrated by the whole company and in humility, I say it was a really special day for me as I was invited not only to address the staff but also to cut the ribbon and unveil a plaque officially declaring the centre open for business. My sincerest thanks to the management of Manline for that honour and privilege. It was something really special which I will never forget. Thank you.

(Top) It was a proud day for FleetWatch editor Patrick O’Leary when he stood next to Manline’s chairman, Neil Henderson and Manline staff to cut the ribbon marking the official opening of the company’s new driver training centre. (left Bottom) The training centre also has a full medical clinic to monitor vital health signs such as the blood pressure levels of all drivers. (Right Bottom) Driven by a passion for drivers: Manline chairman, Neil Henderson and HR manager, Amelda Paltu, in front of the plaque commemorating the official opening of the training centre.

What thrills me even more, however, is the fact that here is a company which has tangibly demonstrated – via substantial investments - its commitment to and belief in its driver force as being the key to the success of its operations. For many years FleetWatch has preached that mantra – and for obvious reasons which, I am sad to say, seem lost to most transporters.

Manline, however, is benefitting from its wisdom and is not only retaining its existing drivers but is also attracting them via the on-the-road grapevine which permeates the national driver fraternity. The word is out that Manline is a good outfit to work for and this can only be to the benefit of a company which is expanding in the face of an industrywide driver shortage.

But if any driver thinks getting into a Manline cab is a ‘walk in the park’, let him think again. The recruitment process takes three weeks starting in the cab with a reversing test. If he passes that, the driver then goes into a one week pre-training and screening process where aspects such as a psychomotor test is done, background and health checks are conducted and finally he is given a full test drive with one of the qualified driver trainers.

The driver is then sent away and it is at stage that the decision is made whether or not he is employable. If he cracks the nod, he is then informed and can resign from his current job. He then comes back to be put onto Manline’s twoweek Professional Driver Induction Training (PDIT) course.

Top Left: Manline’s training co-ordinator, Claudia van Vuuren, conducts a driver assessment using the Dover test method. Top Middle: Screening tests for driver selection are thorough. Top Right: Manline also has in place a driver learnership programme with the company taking on 30 students every year.

In the first week, he is taught all about the structure and culture of the company so as to ensure he matches the company’s ethics and overall modus operandi. In the second week, he gets hit hard with driver skills through on-road training followed by two days of theoretical training. Throughout this time, his progress is closely monitored by HR manager Amelda Paltu who, like Warr and the rest of the management team, has a sincere and real passion for the welfare of her drivers.

It is only after all this – and space does not permit full details of all the processes he has to go through – that he gets to sit behind the wheel of a Manline rig and head off out on the road. Of course, he then periodically comes back into the centre for on- going refresher training.

In addition to taking on existing licensed drivers, Manline has also instituted a driver learnership programme so as to home-grow its own crop of qualified drivers to ensure its future sustainability. This is a nine month course of which 60% is practical and 40% theoretical. A total of 30 trainees are taken on every year and this may increase in the future as the new training facility can accommodate 50 learners.

For Manline this was a R6 million investment in the Training Centre. With the first group of twenty Learnerships, Manline received  funding for half of them (ten) and funded the other half themselves. Manline are hoping for funding for thirty Learnerships in 2010. The Training Centre also caters for all the Dangerous Goods training required by Manline Energy.

It’s all the right stuff and FleetWatch lifts its hat to Manline for what it is doing via this programme to not only ensure its own company image and professionalism is pitched at the highest level - with resultant multiple benefits to its customers - but also to uplift the industry as a whole through the fine example it is setting by having fully qualified drivers out on the road.

Let’s also not forget that there is a higher cause attached to driver training and it lies in the truth that a trained driver is a safe driver. With South Africa’s sorry road safety record - currently running at around 16 000 deaths per year - Manline is also playing its part via its driver training centre in making our roads safer.

Saving lives through driver training may not be a quantifiable accounting entry into a company’s financial statements but it certainly becomes valid when all the chairs around the family dinner table are filled. Well done Manline. May you and your drivers prosper well into the future.