As the United Kingdom moves into 2021 the problem of HGV driver shortage continues with the government taking more measures to combat it. Currently there is a shortage of more than 100,000 drivers so one can duly spot half empty supermarket shelves everywhere. There are measures being made to increase the availability of national HGV training resources which will allow 20,000 more HGV driving tests to be taken every year.
Transport Secretary, Grant Schapps, has said that with the HGV driver training changes being done, new drivers will be provided with a fast route making them drive the larger, articulated C+E HGV vehicles better. In the official statement Schapps has mentioned compared to pre-covid times the testing has increased by 50 percent.
Public consultations were introduced in summer which saw participation from 1000s of respondents. The move was supported by industry leaders who agree it is a positive step to tackle the lorry driver shortage currently affecting many countries around the world. Schnapps in his statement also mentioned that some of the changes made will generate additional capacity for HGV tests very rapidly. They are going to lay the appropriate licensing regulations before the House shortly.
But some officials feel that though the changes are happening rapidly they can be too risky. According to HGVT CEO James Clifford, the new measures seem right on the surface but need further analysing. Number of issues exist in the current measures. Clifford says there are many concerns about the efficacy and safety of the newly introduced changes.
The first concern, Clifford mentions, is how the ultimate effect of changes would be relatively negligible by generation of only 100 extra HGV drivers weekly while 600 retire per week. He also stated that only five to ten percent of the drivers are willing to take both tests at the same time.
