By NEIL HARTNELL

and FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporters

Concerns were voiced yesterday over Abaconians and other Family Island residents incurring extra cost and inconvenience through having to fly to Nassau or Freeport for commercial vehicle driver training.

Amid fears that Abaco’s volunteer fire services would be shut down because none of their members possess the required licence, thereby imperiling residents and businesses, it was alleged that the private company responsible for certifying commercial drivers never returned to the island to provide the necessary training.

One fire service source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tribune Business: “We were told at the beginning of the year that all volunteer fire departments in Abaco would receive the commercial driver licence training at a special training session free of charge. 

“The trainers from Nassau never returned to Abaco. At the time we objected to the $700 per driver fee as we are all volunteers and don’t receive any funds from the Government for our service to the communities of Abaco.”

Daphne Degregory-Miaoulis, the Abaco Chamber of Commerce president, also expressed concern to this newspaper over the ability of Family Island residents to access the necessary training and certification course for commercial vehicle drivers.

“I, for one, have a guy who has a trucking company,” she said. “He’s very busy trying to get a loan to buy another vehicle. He still has not been able to get to a commercial vehicle driver’s licence course because the Road Traffic people here are being told that they have to fly to Nassau or Freeport to do the course because there are not enough people signing up in Abaco.

“What they want you to do is go online and register for the course, and then they will give a session in Abaco once they have enough people to make it worth their while. Otherwise you have to fly to Freeport.” Mrs Degregory-Miaoulis, though, said she understood that the fees associated with the training and certification are slightly lower than those given by the fire service source.

For a ‘Class A’ commercial driver’s licence, she said the fee was $535 plus VAT, while for ‘Class B’ and ‘Class C’ licences they are $425 and $395 plus the 10 percent levy, respectively. The Abaco Chamber chief, though, said she had been unsuccessful in confirming those fees while adding that applicants will also have to cover their air fare and accommodation costs if they have to fly to another island.

With Royal Bahamas Police Force officers now warning drivers lacking the correct licence that they will be fined if caught operating commercial vehicles, such as heavy construction machinery, utility and delivery trucks, oil and sewage tankers, yesterday’s developments shone a spotlight on the Government’s decision to outsource the required training and certification to a private company that appears to have an exclusive monopoly in this area.

Motor Vehicle Training Services (MTVS) is the entity responsible for approving commercial vehicle drivers to obtain their licence from the Road Traffic Department. The significance of its engagement, which occurred more than a year ago, was not apparent at the time, although it appears to have been awarded the contract without any competitive bidding or tender process.

Online research by Tribune Business reveals that MTVS made its first posting on October 21, 2021, just one month after the Davis administration won the general election with a reveal of its corporate logo and contact details. Then, on December 6 that year, it urged persons to “roll into the New Year with your new commercial drivers’ licence”.

Its first weekly schedule for “training and certification” classes was posted on social media on January 11, 2022, with all this taking place prior to a government press release and photo revealing that the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Road Traffic Department to provide these services to commercial vehicle drivers. Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister of transport and housing, was pictured although no private media were there.

A statement released by the Government at the time described the MoU as “transformative”, and said: “The objective of the MoU is to assist with strengthening the knowledge and skills of current and potential drivers of commercial vehicles, heavy duty vehicles, and heavy duty equipment operators. 

“The MOU is also to assist with ensuring that the proper inspection of these vehicles are carried out, in an effort to place the industry on par with international standards and best practices.”

The 2021 and early 2022 postings by MTVS also took place before the Road Traffic Act was amended to make commercial vehicle drivers licences mandatory by law. MTVS’ subsequent social media postings contain glowing testimony from drivers who have passed, vouching for the quality of the theoretical and practical training, and one on June 1 this year suggests the company will next year take over all commercial vehicle inspections from Road Traffic.

“Annual inspections on all commercial vehicles in 2024 by MTVS,” the post states, although there has been no confirmation of this by the Government. Martiniqua Davis, MTVS operations manager, could not be reached for comment despite numerous Tribune Business attempts yesterday, but several sources questioned why a private company should be providing a service that the Government is mandated to offer.

“It’s not the way government works,” one argued. “Why, all of a sudden, do you have to go to a private company to pre-qualify for a government service?” Another added: “With a regular driver’s licence, you take the test and either pass or fail. Why is the commercial driver’s licence not the same? Take the test, and either pass or fail. Some of these guys have been driving for 30 or 40 years. They know their stuff.”

The Government, though, will likely retort that commercial vehicles, given their size and potentially greater safety hazard they pose, require drivers with specialist skills that are properly trained and certified. And, given the nature of these skills, they require a specialist firm such as MTVS to qualify the drivers and make sure they have what it takes.

Linda Moxey, acting Road Traffic controller, could not be contacted for comment. However, research by Tribune Business reporters and photographers shows that MTVS’ 30 Claridge Road address is the same building as the Marathon constituency headquarters for Lisa Rahming, the minister of state for social services. The two, though, have separate entrances and appear to use separate offices.

Meanwhile, David Lockhart, chief superintendent in charge of the police’s Road Traffic division, explained that persons wishing to obtain a commercial driver’s licence must attend four hours of in-class training and two hours of practical training before applying for a licence.

He said: “The process is that you have to attend in-class training for four hours and then a practical training for two hours. And if you succeed and you’re given a certificate, once you’ve given the certificate, then you have to go to traffic and apply for your commercial licence that you can get for one year or three years.”

The Ministry of Transport and Housing, in a statement last night, said: “According to section 35A of the Road Traffic Act, a commercial driver’s licence is required to operate heavy duty vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, heavy equipment and placarded hazardous material vehicles when travelling on the road network.

“Specifically, a commercial driver’s licence is required to operate a single vehicle or a combination of a vehicle and a trailer if the total gross vehicle weight rating is more than 10,000 pounds.” A fine of $250 can be imposed on persons found driving these vehicles without a valid licence.