Compliance, Euro 6 maintenance and a mock Public Inquiry among key areas covered
This year’s IRTE (Institute of Road Traffic Engineers) Conference, held on September 17 at Hilton St George’s, Burton upon Trent, attracted over 200 delegates and 26 speakers. For the first time, the event also included a mock Public Inquiry (PI) chaired by Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney, and a pre-event networking dinner.
Speakers included industry experts, engineers and fleet managers, who spoke in the morning to delegates, and in the afternoon during separate breakaway sessions.
The day kicked off with a welcome from IRTE President Gerry Fleming, and a video message from Claire Perry MP, from the Department for Transport. The keynote address was delivered by Robert Evans, Chief Exec of CENEX.
During the first half of the day, delegates had the chance to learn about Euro-6 maintenance, vehicle ownership costs, synthetic lubricants in reducing fuel consumption and emissions, EC whole vehicle type approval, and dual-fuel.
Delegates were also introduced to a new joint training initiative for transport managers, jointly overseen by IRTE and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).
With expertise in both the fleet engineering and operating roles, both institutes will be working together to deliver first class training for Transport Managers.
The mock PI which followed the morning’s talks was presided over by TC Kevin Rooney, with a defending legal team from Backhouse Jones. In this, the safety infractions of a transport ‘operator’ were examined with arguments presented by both the TC and defending legal team. Delegates were presented with a list of possible penalties for the operator, and were then invited to vote on which they thought most suitable.
In the afternoon, delegates took part in individual in-depth streams covering topics such as legal/compliance, DVSA and TC strategy updates, and current law enforcement and legal trends.
Ian Chisholm, Head of Operations & Communications at IRTE’s umbrella body the Society of Operations Engineers (SOE), said: “The IRTE Conference this year was our most successful yet. The inclusion of a mock PI in particular afforded delegates a unique opportunity to see first-hand the possible repercussions of non-compliance. I’m confident that the day’s event helped further the aim of making road transport as safe and efficient as possible.”
