Exactly. If having more HGV drivers is such a priority. Get the DVLA to concentrate their efforts into processing HGV licences. Get them working 24/7 until its done. Pay overtime and insensitives as necessary.
Same with medicals. Make them a priority over other stuff until the backlog is cleared.
Then there is just the problem of testing. Again, increase the time available to do tests. Work weekends and longer days if required.
Lifted from another forum
It's not just the lack of tests either. It's the lack of even being able to get a medical to apply for an LGV & PCV provisional. Even now, GPs are still not seeing patients face to face, and the issue with LGV licences, is that a lot of the time, it's up to the licence holder to get their own medicals sorted. PCV holders are generally in the fortunate enough position where the company arranges the medical, and at my work place at least, they've been doing that since the end of March this year. So of course, you have drivers that are hitting 45 when you have to have a mandatory medical, and they can't find anywhere to get it done, and it's the same for others of all ages whose licences are expiring.
DVSA were automatically renewing licences for a year up until October last year, but they've changed that and you still have to apply upon expiry, but they are giving you another year without having to have a medical - but because of strikes at DVSA and the massive backlog of applicants, I've heard stories of drivers at work not being able to work for 2-3 months and they have not got their licence through, despite them sending it off in good time. You can drive under a section 28, but you need to get hold of DVSA call centres to be able to do that - and getting through to them at the moment is nigh on impossible.
Naturally, these drivers that are still waiting for their licence to come back and unable to drive under a section 28 still have bills to pay, so they've found employment elsewhere with the intention of going back to driving when they get their licence back. Problem there being now, is that they're now doing regular hours, having a far better work/life balance, and consequently, they've stayed where they are and jacked the driving in. The same goes for drivers that were furloughed and got another job during the main lockdowns.
To use a phrase I've used before, it has been a perfect storm, whereby some have left because of Brexit, some have left because of covid, some have left due to licence difficulties and not returned to driving - and that's without the natural wastage too. I was talking to a haulier friend a couple of days ago, and he also came up with a good point, that the time of year hasn't helped where there is a small but not insignificant chunk of the driving workforce off on annual leave throughout the summer too.
As I posted previously, there are 75-80000 (ish) LGV licence holders not doing the job currently. Questions need to be asked why this is, why drivers that have invested thousands of pounds in the training have come to the conclusion the job isn't worth doing any more.
The simple answer, is most likely because the job is now ****. My old man was a trucker, and I knew him as nothing else until he retired. He loved the job, and it may be clouded by fond memories of my childhood of when I used to go out in the wagon with him, but I can't ever recall him being away from home, I can't recall being out with him and waiting for hours on end to make a drop, nor can I recall him ever struggling to find somewhere to park for his breaks.
Truckers, and all professional drivers of large vehicles, have been taken for granted for far too long, and hopefully things are about to change. Maybe, firms are wising up to the fact that unless the wheels are turning, they ain't earning - and without staff, those wheels are not turning. To retain those staff, T&Cs and pay need to improve, and improve fast, otherwise there will be a point where the shortage of LGV and PCV drivers will remain a permanent fixture for years to come. I've been with my current company for two and a half years, and in that time, my pay has increased by a grand sum of 24p per hour. When people feel that they're only worth 13p and 11p respectively, which are our previous pay rises, people start to question just how much they are valued.
