THE Fleet Driver Training Association has established a fleet-specific qualification for instructors involved in the training of company drivers. Members of the association voted strongly in favour of the qualification at an extraordinary general meeting of the FDTA.

The qualification will reassure fleet decision makers that instructors have the appropriate skills for fleet training, and represents a triumph for the FDTA. The association, which includes all the UK's leading fleet driver training companies, was established in 1995 with the primary function of driving up the standards of fleet driver training and driving out 'cowboy' instructors, and has achieved its goal well ahead of schedule.

It has worked closely with the Driving Standards Agency to establish the new qualification, and specially-trained DSA examiners will conduct the new fleet-specific tests. The qualification requires all new FDTA-approved trainers to be registered ADIs (Approved Driving Instructors), and pass both a pre-qualification theory test based on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Diploma, and a DSA special test which examines trainers' driving skills and instructional ability.