40,000 lorry drivers waiting to take their tests

[cromwell]

Why are they waiting to take them?
Becaause DVSA (driver vehicle standards agency) staff have been prevented from conducting the tests during lockdown.
Did nobody think that this might cause a problem?

There have also been delays in the processing of applications for full HGV licenses. Why?
Because the forms have to be handled in person and many DVLA staff are working from home.
Well imho they should be told to get their backsides back into the office asap. It's not good enough. The girls on the tills at supermarkets have worked throughout the pandemic. Dentists are working, opticians are working. It is not on for civil servants to be tossing it off at home.

That permanently grinning chimp Grant Shapps (minister of Transport) needs to be sacked.

[medsec222]

I totally agree with you Cromwell. They should be told it is now time to get back to work if they want to keep their jobs. The supermarket staff have been the unsung heros during the pandemic. They have keep us going since day 1, so it is about time that those who are working from home and more than likely on full pay on told to resume their normal duties.

[Workingman]

This issue was raised by the RHA back on the 17th of August. It also noted that some 2,000 drivers per week leave the job to be replaced by only 1,000 per week new recruits. So the backlog is effectively growing.

Meanwhile the DVSA says it is employing more testers and upping its testing rate from 2000 to 3000 per week. That's good, but at that rate it will take 15 weeks to test everyone and that is if things stand still. As it is a dynamic and fluid situation it will be more like 18, 20 to 22 weeks, so spring 2022. Even then we will still be about 30-40,000 drivers short.

Maybe the government should take a leaf out its Furlough Handbook, where it paid 80% of a worker's wages during the pandemic, and apply the principle to driver training and licensing to entice more in. Newly qualified drivers using the scheme could be tied in to that line of work for a period of, say, three years - as is the case with some jobs. Anyone leaving voluntarily stumps up the full cost - carrot and stick.

[JoM]

The whole test system needs a shake up, not just for HGV.

We have a friend who is a driving instructor and he has a few learners who need to pass their tests in order to drive for work but they’re having to wait six months for a test.

We always had a full time car test centre in town, it was relocated to the community fire station a few years ago and then only opened two days per week. Going back to 2018 when Joe failed his test twice there was a three month wait for tests and it wasn’t just at this test centre though, the wait was the same at all local ones (Lichfield, Stafford and Wolverhampton).
That two day a week centre has now closed for good.

Then we have the issue of theory tests, and people who passed pre-Covid and haven’t been able to pass a practical test. Many theory tests have expired in that time and now have to be retaken at the expense of the learner through no fault of their own.
Back to an anecdote from our driving instructor friend. He was telling me about a student of his who is a plumber, his employer now needs to give him a van so that he can go out to jobs on his own due to the workload increasing. He’s passed his theory test but it expires soon. He’s tried to book a practical test but because his theory test expires before the dates available for a practical he’s unable to book because he must have a valid theory pass number, and while it’d be valid if he booked a test for next week it’s not going to be valid for a booking in six months. Therefore he can’t book a practical test until he’s managed to pass another theory test.

The whole situation with the DVSA and DVLA is a shambles. It’s not as if it’s a service that’s being provided for free either.

[cromwell]

The supermarket staff have been the unsung heros during the pandemic. They have keep us going since day 1

100% agree Medsec.

Jo, that would be funny if it wasn't so serious. What a shambles.

[Suff]

This is government 101.

There has been a reduction in the number of tests overall, partly because of EU equivalence of licenses and the preferences of employers to take pre licensed Eastern EU drivers, partly because UK citizens living in cities have given up on driving and don't take a test. I'm seeing this more and more. This means that the amount of money coming in for testing is sharply reduced. If the money coming in reduces, then the services reduce. Government 101.

Add to that civil service obstruction and, often, incompetence and you can make a disaster out of a crisis. Don't expect them to work out where the services are needed and keep them, expect them to simply get rid of the easiest one's and keep the hardest ones. Of course the easiest ones are the ones which are most vital to the community. Such is government in the UK. Don't activate the braincells, far too Jobsworth.

There is one thing which will be guaranteed out of this. The existing structure will change. Whether it will get better or not is debatable, but now a very bright spotlight is shining on a murky bit of the civil service. The denizens are scuttling for cover but the light will be merciless.

[TheOstrich]

I cannot understand why they are refusing to use the Army heavy vehicle / tanker drivers. Bring them back from Germany if necessary.

[Suff]

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/petro ... nt-1224009

Ministers have rolled out their reserve fleet of petrol tankers to deliver much-needed fuel after haulier companies went from having too few drivers to too many, i has been told.

Motorists up and down the UK have been left queuing for hours for fuel in recent days because of a nationwide shortage of HGV drivers to deliver the fuel from depots to the pumps.

But Whitehall sources have said emergency measures taken by petrol hauliers, such as cutting annual leave, working longer hours and staff volunteering, has meant they have now run out of petrol tankers to deliver fuel to station forecourts.

They do admit that there is still a shortfall of 100,000 drivers for other goods.

I did some research about the winter of discontent. In those days drivers were driving 70-80 hours per week for poor wages. Now they are capped at 48 hours based on UK law legacy from our time in the EU.

I wonder if a short term law easing tied to bonuses would resolve the crisis till new drivers could be certified?

[Workingman]

When I was at Uni I did a few jobs - mostly night driving. One of them was as driver's mate to my then BiL.

At 10pm we loaded at Arla, Leeds, in a four axle chilled artic full of dairy products for Team Valley in Gateshead. We drove up then handballed the load to the loading dock and filled up with empties, then back to Leeds. Unload the empties and refill with more yoghurts and stuff then back to Team Valley - repeat the process up there. Two runs - we finished at about 7am on a good night.

It was bloody hard work and I would not want drivers doing more than 48 hours of it on modern roads no matter who brought the legislation in. Certainly not noobs on bonuses - to get the job done.

[Suff]

In the Army one of my units was a tank transporter unit. They had 3 drivers and a section at the back of the cab with beds in it. We, the mechanics, had a bedford MK with 2 of us and a 10" parcel shelf to sleep on if you couldn't sleep in the seat. We started out 4 on 4 off and went to 2 on 2 off as we started to lose concentration, especially at night. The drag (drive from one place to another), went on for 2 days. Also the mechanics had to fix anything on route and then try and catch up to the convoy.

The art of the possible in an emergency is not the same as the day to day grind.

48 hours is good. But much more is possible, safely, if urgent enough.