By Subir Gupta, Aquarius’ National Accounts Manager

In Commercial Motor Magazine on 13^th June 2024, there was an article on ‘Future Proofing’ which discusses why the Department of Education is “seeking to find out how many English- based hauliers are aware of its range of Skills Bootcamps as concerns over the industry’s lack of digital talent soars’. The Skills Bootcamps were set up by the government in 2020, and include digital skills, electrical vehicle maintenance and HGV training – they take up to 16 weeks to complete and aim to help both existing and new employees develop new skills to boost their careers.

RHA have been tasked with carrying out the survey with its members to gauge how well understood and, by extension, how popular these Skills Bootcamps are.

The article also notes that there is a huge skills gap that the industry needs to navigate as the haulage world begins to automate, which is why we, as an IT company, are wholly supportive of the Skills Bootcamps.  

As a technology company, we see day in day out all the benefits both operators and drivers derive from going digital – we also know that if drivers are comfortable using the technology, it facilitates a better buy in from staff of new systems.

This could be as simple as giving drivers a basic understanding of tablet and mobile-app use – digital skills training that is fit for purpose.  We know from our own experience with customers, there can be resistance to change at first; it’s perfectly natural, especially amongst older drivers and workshop staff, which is why digital skills training is important – it’s the bedrock and paves the way for new technologies to be onboarded (by employers and via bespoke training from the software provider).

However, alongside this, embedding technologies that are not overwhelming and simplify everyday tasks is equally as important. This is why with the Aquarius App, we have built it with the driver in mind, all the reporting functions – compliance, defect reporting, document management and time and attendance – are on one App for ease of use – it’s one system for users to learn. Plus, each of the functions are scalable, so changes can be made progressively; and when they are ‘turned on’, the users will already be familiar with the functionality and it all works. 

With the Commercial Motor article also quoting statistics from NEOS Network, who found that 62.9% of the companies in the sector said their employees’ digital skills are “next to none”, “insufficient” or “sufficient” for current operations; we actively support all initiatives, including the Skills Bootcamps, that can help companies to empower their employees so that they can confidently embrace, and benefit from current and future technologies.

You can read the Commercial Motor article in full here