New simulation truck driving course to help stem driver shortage

Anew simulation truck driving programme has been launched, hoping to help clear the bottleneck behind New Zealand’s truck driver shortage.

The +IMPAC VRC Whiti Supply Chain truck driver training programme slashes the qualifying period from six months to two weeks. The course is said to accelerate learning and introduces tools that build competence faster while significantly improving safety outcomes for novice drivers.

+IMPAC’s Whiti Supply Chain Programme, in partnership with the logistics industry and the Ministry of Social Development, has already proved itself through safety training qualifications of new forklift operators through virtual reality simulator technology.

“It is a considerably safer way to train new drivers because they are not going straight from classroom to real truck. They go from classroom to simulator to truck, so we’re not just putting newbies behind the wheel of four tonnes of steel. They step into the real thing, already knowing the process – the dashboard isn’t a strange collection of buttons and levers,” said Sam Eyre, +IMPAC truck training course lead.

The introduction of truck simulator training through +IMPAC’s Whiti Supply Chain Programme cuts the stand down period between learners and full licence to just two weeks, significantly reducing costs, and nurturing aspiring young drivers through the unit standards and road code learning and assessment.

“Our truck driving workforce is ageing,” Eyre said. “With the simulator there are fewer obstacles, and the technology gamifies the learning process –training becomes stickier. They achieve their full class 2 licence in two weeks,” said Eyre.

In addition, candidates are taught skills like preparing a CV.

While students are on the truck simulators, trainers sit behind their consoles to monitor training in real-time and, unlike traditional driver training, there is the ability to introduce all kinds of hazards, from cyclists to snow and other dangerous weather conditions such as sunstrike and, importantly, wind velocity.

The technology provides real-time assessments of where the driver has performed well or poorly, as well as mistakes and efficiencies with an objectivity that only solid data can provide. The simulator also puts drivers through the experience of what it’s like to drive drunk or fatigued, and correct gearing and exhaust braking.