Logistics UK: DVSA must sustain pace on driving tests

Logistics UK has urged the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to maintain its rapid vocational driver testing programme in order to clear the outstanding test backlog, which the organisation says threatens to derail the supply chain through its role in the driver shortage.

David Wells, chief executive of Logistics UK, said he was encouraged by DVSA’s progress to date, following a meeting with its new chief executive, Loveday Ryder – but that much work remained to be done.

“While DVSA is now delivering vocational tests at around double its pre-pandemic weekly volumes, I queried whether this is sustainable under the organisation’s current setup,” he said.

“More than 30,000 LGV driving tests did not take place between March and December 2020, with even more cancelled during the lockdown at the start of 2021, meaning that potential employees have been denied entry to their chosen profession at a time when logistics businesses need them urgently.

“It is vital that DVSA maintains the testing rates which have been achieved in the past couple of weeks, but this is a marathon, not a sprint. The volumes of outstanding tests are preventing at the very least 15,000 applicants with successful passes from joining the sector at a time when our supply chain desperately needs their skills.”

Logistics UK has advocated more ‘innovative’ solutions to the problem to ensure testing volumes remain sustainable, such as expanding the existing delegated testing regime.

David Wells added: “Restarting testing and catching up with the backlog of outstanding driving tests is the single biggest step that can be taken to fill some of the industry’s vacancies, but employers – whose turnover has been hit hard by the pandemic – need more support, such as interest free loans or grants, to help cover the costs of driver training, which can run to thousands of pounds.”