HGV Test Charge Cap
Advanced Supply Chain Group (ASCG) have called for a cap on charges for HGV driving tests.
This follows the Government’s announcement that they will be making changes to the HGV training system.
The HGV driver shortage has caused supply chain delays in the UK over the last few months. Pressure on the industry will increase during the festive season.
ASCG are one of the logistics fleets supplying the UK, operating more than 50 articulated lorries. They have called for the government to rethink their test overhaul strategy. They have warned that shortening driving tests isn’t the key to getting more drivers on the road.
Currently, drivers must pass C2 training driving smaller vehicles before they can move onto Class 1 driving HGVs. But the test overhaul we see all C2 training scrapped.
ASCG say this is will see the cost of test increase and discourage new drivers.
Comment
Operations director at ASCG Scott Barry said:
“Forthcoming lorry test changes mean that HGV training providers could see half their income disappear overnight. These companies will need to recoup losses and it’s plausible they’ll do this by hiking up the costs of Class 1 training.”
Barry is also concerned about the safety aspect of this change. These changes will see drivers going from driving standard cars to large articulated lorries. This is a big change for drivers and may cause many to drop out of training. Some test centres see a 40% failure rate for Class 1 tests. But the ASCG believe this is mostly due to nerves.
“If changes to HGV testing are to solve problems of driver shortages, they need to be much more considerate of building confidence in new drivers. Potentially shortcutting training and testing will not achieve this and risks creating driver churn that could make it more challenging for the industry to recruit and retain talent.”
Useful Links
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heavy-goods-vehicle-fees/
HGV Test Charge Cap