Speeches: Peter Krausz, IRU Head - Goods Transport & Facilitation, Geneva

As in any other service or manufacturing industry, quality of service in passenger transport by road equals customer satisfaction. This should be the ultimate goal of transport operators and an underlying concept for all actions, whether upstream or downstream.

Upstream, a transport operator buys his bus or coach (and any other "input material" into his "production process") according to customers' requirements, be they specific or average. The better he can identify a significant group of clients and their requirements for vehicle quality, the more precise and targeted he can make the choice of input factors like vehicles, with a better chance of satisfaction among the clients themselves.

Downstream, he cares for a smooth and top-level client contact, whether at the ticket office or on board the vehicle between the driver and passengers. In this phase, he implements the input tools in the best possible manner to provide top quality service output.

Full satisfaction of clients' needs is not contradictory to the requirement of profitable operation. Quite the contrary: high quality of service as an output, though normally requiring a higher amount to spend up-front for its development, introduction and maintenance, yields bigger revenues and more efficient production processes, increased cost consciousness and higher profitability. Thus, expensive input for the sake of high quality is a reasonable investment.

Even if we suppose that unlimited amounts of money are at hand (which is normally never the case) for such investments and cash-flow sensitive daily operations, quality of service depends on a few further conditions such as high-level information on rapidly changing market demand and knowledge about available soft and/or hardware in the widest sense to satisfy these demands. A lot of organisational skill is required to set the production processes right¹ and perform the required services in the most efficient way.

A deeply quality-focussed attitude² should be the guiding spirit throughout the whole company structure for all processes and at every level of qualified decision-making. Qualified decisions are taken at every level in the daily operations of a bus and coach transport company, be it by the top management or by the drivers.

In talking about information, knowledge, skills, attitude and decision-making, we are talking about the need for education in general and for vocational training³ in particular.

Training is not an inexpensive investment for a transport company. However, according to experts, it costs five times more to attract a new customer than to retain a current one. How to retain existing customers can and should be taught and learned.

Vocational training in road transport

Specific training in a coach transport company encompasses that of managers and drivers, representing the two crucial occupations of the sector. Specific training may also be required for any mechanics employed within the transport company. For other professions, like bookkeepers, finance officers, etc., it is possible to source labour from the generic labour market trained through the normal educational and vocational training channels.

In this presentation, I shall focus on the transport manager's profession.

In many countries, appropriate transport manager training and an examination evidencing the achieved and acceptable level of knowledge represent an indispensable condition to obtain the operator licence needed to run a transport company.

Let me take the example of the European Union (EU). An EU Directive regulates the matter⁴. It decides about the examination subjects (see Table 1), establishes a compulsory written examination which can be complemented by an oral test, regulates cases of exemptions (from examination) and sets the form of the diploma mutually acknowledged by 25 Member States.

Table 1: List of subjects examined in case of candidate managers of road passenger transport companies in the European Union

The knowledge required for the official recognition of professional competence by the EU Member States must cover at least the subjects listed above for road passenger transport. In relation to these subjects, applicant managers of existing or would-be coach and bus transport companies must have the level of knowledge and practical aptitude necessary for the management of a transport undertaking.

The Case of the IRU Academy

The International Road Transport Union (IRU), through its national associations, represents the entire road transport industry worldwide. The IRU, founded in Geneva on 23 March 1948, has both local and global reach through its 170 members in 67 countries.

In passenger transport, it speaks for the operators of coaches, buses and taxis from large transport fleets to owner-drivers.

In all international bodies that make decisions affecting road transport, the IRU acts as the industry's advocate. By working for the highest professional standards, the IRU improves the safety record and environmental performance of road transport and ensures the mobility of people.

Regarding the professional competence of managers, the IRU identified as a major problem in the late 1990s that road transport companies and employees were handicapped in their search for effective training solutions by the lack of harmonisation and transparency in training standards, courses and procedures.

This is why the IRU Academy was established six years ago. Its mission is to develop, implement and promote internationally recognised competence-based training standards as well as to harmonise training programmes to meet economic needs and recognise excellence in training.

Harmonised training standards foster a life-long learning culture by providing transparency in course content and resulting areas of competence.

In co-operation with governments, employers, social partners, trade associations, professional bodies and individuals, the IRU Academy's competence-based approach helps to harmonise training standards, bringing transparency to the training market. Competence-based training curricula help companies and their employees to make informed decisions about career path evolution.

The international harmonisation of training offerings helps to increase road safety, environmental protection and quality of service. It also enhances the image of the profession by strengthening road transport personnel's ability to respond effectively to tomorrow's challenges.

A basic tool of the IRU Academy to achieve its objectives has been an accreditation system of training institutes. The purpose is to ascertain that course material, teaching methods and procedures for courses, examinations and testing comply with the international standards set by the IRU Academy so as to ensure that they are kept up-to-date and reflect international best practice.

A second but no less important tool is issuing diplomas to individuals
who successfully complete training courses accredited by the IRU Academy. They receive an internationally recognised IRU Academy Diploma, enhancing both their career potential and business prospects for their employer.

The Academy's Certificate of Professional Competence programme (CPC for managers) was launched in 1999 strictly based on EU legislation and best industry practices. Since that date, 30 training institutes in 28 countries have been accredited as corresponding to the strict IRU Academy criteria and more than 4,000 individual diplomas have been issued to successful manager candidates.

Today, the IRU Academy has taken a new and even more ambitious path of development. It has started elaborating lesson plans for accredited training schools to help strengthen the harmonisation of training practices across frontiers. The first new standard lesson plans have been elaborated in the field of goods transport (dangerous goods transport by road), soon to be followed by other sets of lesson plans also applicable for the vocational training of drivers working on board coaches and buses.

Based on the above-mentioned achievements and with distance learning experiments supported by the World Bank in South-East Europe, the Russian Federation and China, whereby the IRU Academy has been involved as the leading professional agency, the IRU Academy has got off the ground with much success. In recognition of its achievements, organisations represented on its Advisory Committee like the World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the European Commission, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, the European Transport Workers Federation and representatives of the academic world have endorsed the initiatives of the IRU Academy, giving it their full support.

Conclusions

Driving a bus or a coach on public roads with 50 passengers on board or giving instructions to the driver from the manager's seat and in addition running a whole company involves extremely high responsibility. No one is born a professional driver or manager of a passenger transport company. Much hard work and lifelong learning must be invested.

Learning pays back, however, whether in the form of individual or company achievements.

Providing quality services through training is therefore beneficial for all: the public at large as well as the service providers.