Rethinking Training for the Transport Workforce: Blending Tradition and Innovation

This week I’ve been speaking with people right across the transport industry about how we train our workforce. One thing has become crystal clear: there’s no single “right way” to train. Instead, we’re seeing a wide variety of approaches each with its own strengths that together make learning more impactful and engaging for the people on the receiving end.

At the RHA, we currently deliver training in three key ways:

· Face-to-face – whether in the classroom, outdoors, or in-vehicle.

· Live online – through Teams or Zoom, offering interaction without the travel.

· Self-paced e-learning – giving learners control over when and how they engage.

Often, the most powerful results come when these approaches are blended, allowing flexibility for learners while ensuring the practical, real-world skills are still embedded.

Why Face-to-Face Still Matters

When talking to operators, trainers, and learners, one message came through consistently: nothing replaces being face-to-face when training involves a practical element or assessment. For mechanical and electrotechnical skills, for example, training partners are investing heavily in purpose-built facilities with up-to-date vehicles and rigs. Bringing apprentices together from across the country doesn’t just build competence it broadens horizons and builds lifelong networks.

Of course, this comes with cost, especially for employers. But with incentives like reduced national insurance contributions for under-25 apprentices, there are ways to offset these investments. Perhaps it’s time for government to consider extending such support beyond apprenticeships to other industry-focused training.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Skills on Fast-Forward

What really struck me in these conversations is how training needs to adapt to the pace of change. Previous industrial revolutions took years to develop and as skills became outdated created a need for one of training episodes. This one, the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, moves at lightning speed. Skills gained early in a career risk becoming outdated in just a few years.

That means training can’t be a one-off event. Employers need to build CPD into business planning. Trainers must innovate with delivery. And regulators should allow flexibility in how competence is maintained.

Is E-Learning the Answer to Everything?

I was recently asked this, and my answer was clear: absolutely not. E-learning is a tool, not a solution in itself. What it does offer is the ability for learners to revisit complex topics at their own pace. That makes classroom time more efficient, facts

and theory can be learned online, leaving face-to-face sessions for practical skills and problem-solving.

Equally, we shouldn’t dismiss short, app-based learning. For example, our e-learning resource supporting the Destination Zero Bridge Strikes campaign gives drivers a short, sharp, and free session that encourages small but powerful behavioural changes. Over time, this kind of training measurably improves safety, without significant cost.

Rethinking Qualifications

Take the Driver CPC. Too often it’s criticised as repetitive, uninspiring, and overly classroom based. While the syllabus is broad, it doesn’t always lend itself to innovation. Similarly, the Transport Manager qualification often culminates in what feels like a memory test, rather than a true reflection of ongoing learning.

A two-day refresher course may tick a compliance box, but is it really equipping today’s professionals to keep pace with industry change? That’s the question we need to grapple with.

Where Do We Go from Here?

The way forward isn’t about choosing one method of training over another. It’s about creating a flexible, blended ecosystem that works for learners, employers, and regulators alike.

· Employers: factor CPD into workforce planning.

· Trainers: embrace innovation, from simulators to short digital learning.

· Authorities: recognise more than one “valid” way of maintaining competence.

· Individuals: take responsibility for keeping your own skills current.

Ultimately, whatever type of training you choose—whether for yourself, your employees, or as part of a regulatory requirement—ask one simple question:

Will it deliver the best outcome for the learner?

This is my take on where training is heading in our industry, but I’d love to hear yours. How do you see learning evolving in the years ahead? Is the balance between face-to-face, online, and self-paced right for you and your business?

Let’s start the conversation.