Welcome to our first Somax Newsletter.

There will be a newsletter every quarter and it will keep you up to date with legislation, courses and interesting special features. Somax was started by myself in 2004 and over the last few years has grown tremendously with the help of all members of staff and of course you as our clients. We hope that you enjoy reading the contents and would ask you to send us feedback or any news you would like to add to next quarter's issue.

New EU rules for lorry, bus and coach operators

A consultation on the implementation of new EU rules covering the licensing of lorry, bus and coach operators was announced today by Roads Minister Mike Penning.

Classroom CPC: All CPC courses for the academic year 2010-2011 are now sold. From September 2011 our 5 classroom topics are: • Drivers Hours & Digital Tachograph • Driver Responsibilities • Manual Handling & Safe Loading • Emergency First Aid at Work • Customer Care & Vehicle Checks These courses only run once a month so book early! Usual cost £65.00+VAT+Driver CPC Registration (£86.75), book in May for courses in September or October £55.00+VAT+Driver CPC (£74.75), please quote 'Newsletter' when booking

The European rules under which hire and reward operators are licensed are being changed by a new EC Regulation coming into force in December 2011. This includes a requirement for all member states to establish a national register of operators as already exists in the UK. It will also require other member states to act on information from UK enforcement agencies when operators commit infringements. Mike Penning said: "The operator licensing system exists to make sure that the buses, lorries and coaches using our roads are operated safely and legally. "These new EU measures will help to level the playing field for UK operators by making sure that there are effective mechanisms in all member states to allow enforcement agencies to report illegal activity by foreign vehicles. "Our proposals for the implementation of these new EU rules will help to strengthen the operator licensing system and improve road safety without imposing unnecessary burdens on industry." The areas covered in the consultation include the role of transport managers, how operators can demonstrate sufficient financial standing and how operators' transport managers can demonstrate their professional competence. The consultation starts today and seeks views on how the new rules can best be implemented by the Traffic Commissioners, who issue operator licences and take enforcement action against those who break those rules. The consultation can be found at www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/2011-11/ and will close on 20 May 2011.

Practical CPC: • New to this year is our HIAB course running conducted on a 3:1 ratio this is a Driver CPC course which will also give you another string to your bow • SAFED (Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving) and Essential Driving Techniques. A proven training course which can provide the most benefit to our customers on average reducing fuel consumption by 10% • Essential Driving Techniques is a tailor made practical course which includes date loading practices, PPE and defensive driving techniques

Creating the Ideal Partnership

ADR: Running from December 2011 and then every quarter we are pleased to announce that we will be delivering ADR training to all our customers. This can either be a 5 day course (Core, Packages & Tanks) or a 3 day refresher course, the first giving you 21 hours of Driver CPC the second 7 hours of Driver CPC.

For the last few years, Weston College has been working in very close partnership with Somax logistics. As an organisation they have been very keen to engage with the College, and through joint working we have learnt from each other in terms of training methodologies and commercial enterprise. The partnership is very successful, is founded on trust and high learner success and has opened up opportunities for both organisations. It is probably one of the most successful partnerships I have ever been involved in, the College and Somax are working together more and more to produce outstanding training opportunities for the South West and indeed the UK. Most importantly as the College invests millions of pounds in its third campus, I see Somax as integral to both the resources and training this site will provide. Dynamic, entrepreneurial and progressive sum up Somax to me.

Licencing: We are able to offer driver training in both Taunton and Bristol test centres, Gloucester test centre has now closed. • LGV/HGV licences C1 (7.5t), C (Over 7.5t) and CE (Artic) • PCV D1 (Minibus) and D Coach licences

Dr Paul Phillips OBE, PhD, D.Litt Principal & Chief Executive Weston College

The funded world has changed considerably from when we linked Driver CPC to qualifications however working with Weston College we are still able to provide funded options. 17 or 18 Driving Goods Vehicle apprenticeships to include Licencing for either BE (Car/Van & Trailer), C1 (7.5t rigid) or C (over 7.5t) vehicles. Courses start September 2011 and include: Drivers Hours and Responsibilities, a 5 day training course, DSA theory test and practical test, SAFED and Essential Driving Techniques 19+ Driving Goods apprenticeships as above but without the Licencing Certificate in Workskills is still available and consists of Drivers Hours, Driver Responsibilities and The Professional Driver In order to guarantee funding courses need to be booked and registered by the end of December 2011. For those who wish to secure more than 10 places this will require authorisation from the SFA and Weston College and early expression of interest is advisable to secure funds.

This quarter's winner is Rob Evans who started his Driving Goods Vehicle Apprenticeship through Jays Transport in Highbridge. He has attended all courses and passed all 4 DSA Class C modules first time, our only criticism is that his memory cells are sometimes a bit slow, arriving late or forgetting his file!

We first met Simon Werkshagen from SOMAX after he presented at an event in Bristol and organised further discussions to see whether there were benefits to a partnership to deliver Driver CPC. At this time our options still included setting up an in-house training centre.

Paul Phillips " I am nothing short of delighted with the Young Driver Apprenticeship Scheme and the training supplied by Simon and his team at SOMAX. Rob has emerged from this detailed training course as a well rounded and knowledgeable young driver that we are proud of. Well done Rob & Thank You Somax."

We were impressed by the quality of the organisation and the can-do attitude. There was clearly a level of expertise and specialism in SOMAX which we would be hard-pressed to duplicate in the short term with an in-house centre. We were also convinced by the benefits of SOMAX's mature relationship with Weston College, and this bore fruit in November 2010 with an offer of funding towards a training programme, which lead to the present partnership. The programme which SOMAX is delivering to our drivers is based around a Driver NVQ level 2. The content of the course has been adapted to include aspects from within our own management system, and therefore it bears the greatest relevance to our drivers. We also liked the fact that the course includes only one day in-class, against two in-vehicle, which suits the needs of most of our drivers. From the point of view of our employees, they all signed up to attend the one day classroom session on a Saturday in their own time, and we made available the work time and equipment for days 2 and 3. Our present programme runs until July 2011, and as the tone of my commentary would suggest, it has gone very smoothly thus far, leaving us extremely pleased with the partnership.

Rob receives a 5lt barrel of Butcombe Beer and goes through to the driver of the year.

Each edition will come with a member of staff's profile, this quarter we focus on Shireen who has been with us since the 2008 and manages bookings and administration. "I was trained by Simon for my D1 minibus licence which set me for PCV driving a school run. During a families skiing holiday Simon offered me a job with Somax with a condition that I pass a full D coach licence, which I duly did and have been part of the Somax family for over 2 ½ years. "

Somax together with TOR2 will be commencing Modern Apprenticeships for 90 members of staff. The training will consist of: Key Skills, Employer Rights and Responsibilities, Drivers Hours, Drivers Responsibilities, SAFED (Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving), Essential Driving Techniques. This will include 28 hours of Driver CPC. Thanks to Maurice for his support and confidence.

Somax has been honoured with a prestigious National Training Award in recognition of their outstanding contribution and commitment to training, learning and development in the workplace. Somax was presented with a Regional National Training Award at the South West Regional Ceremony, held at @Bristol. Somax was recognised in the Collaboration and Partnership Award category for its outstanding achievement in 100% pass rates of over a thousand drivers achieving a full NVQ Level 2 qualification in Driving Goods Vehicles and Driving Passenger Carrying Vehicles. The partnership with Weston College has been an exceptional success.

Go New Recruitment

We have been working with Go New for nearly two years and have recommended many of our customers to them. Their team has dealt with our customers speedly and efficiently and we would recommend their services to all Somax customers. Mark Underwood of Go New Recruitment said "Go New Recruitment is a large independent employment business that specialises in the supply of temporary workforce solutions to the Logistics, Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Transport sectors. Go New appointed Somax as our Training Partner in 2009 after identifying a number of elements to their services that we were not benefitting from with our previous supplier. Since working with Simon and his team at Somax Training we have been able to significantly improve the skills of our workforce within individuals undertaking a wide range of vocational training courses." If you need staff call Go New on 0800 232 1664

DSA to stop publishing questions used in theory tests

• Candidates need to understand theory • End to memorising answers • Unpublished questions used from 1 January 2012

The Driving Standards Agency is to stop publishing the multiple choice questions and answers used in theory tests, Road Safety Minister Mike Penning announced today. This will help to ensure that new drivers learn the principles behind driving theory rather than just learning answers. The move follows the introduction of independent driving into the driving test and the DSA's decision to stop publishing test routes in October 2010, to make sure the test assesses a learner's ability to drive and not their capacity to memorise routes. Mike Penning said: "The driving theory test should help to prepare drivers for real life on the road - good driving is not just about vehicle-handling skills, but also about having the knowledge and understanding of safe driving theory. "No longer publishing these questions and answers will mean that successful candidates will have to understand the theory rather than simply memorising answers. "I believe that this - along with the other changes we are making to the driving test regime - will lead to better drivers and safer roads." In September 2011 DSA will change the format of books and other learning materials available to help people prepare for theory tests. This will take place at the same time as more challenging case studies are introduced to car and motorcycle theory tests. Then, from 1 January 2012, DSA will create theory tests using questions which will not be published. Practice questions and answers, not used in theory tests, will still be available to help candidates with revision. Other companies which publish products containing DSA theory test questions will also no longer have access to the questions used in the tests.

Unfortunately we are not corporate sponsors or have a box at Bath Rugby but we do have 4 season tickets. For those wanting to come on an outing next year please contact Craig (Sales) craig@somax.eu.com or simon@somax.eu.com to see if you qualify! Come on Bath!

People at work can suffer injuries or be taken ill. It doesn't matter whether the injury or illness is caused by the work they do or not, it is important to give them immediate attention and call an ambulance in serious cases. First Aid at work covers the arrangements you should make to ensure this happens. It can save lives and prevent minor injuries becoming major ones.

The HSE recommend the following: Higher Hazard (warehousing, work with machinery etc); • if less than 5 employees at least one appointed person • 5-50 employees at least one trained First Aid at Work person • 50-100 employees at least one trained First Aid at Work person (or part thereof) We are running the full 3 day course (First Aid at Work) October, January 2012, April and July We are running the 1 day Emergency First Aid at Work every month (one day per month) from September 2011 – July 2012