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FTA awarded irtec approved centre status

The FTA (Freight Transport Association) has been awarded 'irtec approved centre' status by the Sector Skills Council representative, IMI Awards.
FTA will be focusing on the new Inspection Technician Licence within the irtec programme that tests and assesses the competence of technicians who maintain and repair HGVs and PCVs. Lawrie Alford, FTA strategic business manager, points out that the association has provided operators with technical training products for the last 10 years – and adds that larger fleet operators completing these have shown a marked improvement, with reduced mechanical defects and improved OCRS scores. "I am convinced that regular technical training and assessment of technicians will improve fleet standards and performance," says Alford. "By providing the latest support and resources to this sector of the industry, competence-based assessments will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of workshops throughout the UK, and provide a clear direction for companies' training requirements," he continues. "This will benefit operators with in-house workshops and contract repairers seeking to illustrate compliance improvement to their customers." FTA is offering a three-day specialist inspection training programme and a one-day Technical OLAT (Operator Licence Awareness Training) course – delivered nationally, engineer-to-engineer at the customer's premises, so minimising workshop downtime. Alford says that technician assessments can be enhanced to include a company's bespoke features, if required.

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