We appreciate the hard work put forth by the Freight Transportation Association (FTA) on behalf of member companies and the haulage industry as a whole. Their latest effort is one of contributing to a Department for Transport (DfT) consultation intended to look at ways the various agencies it controls can be streamlined to make things better for PCV and LGV operators.
This is a significant step given the DfT’s reluctance to include the haulage and transport sectors when developing new plans. FTA Director of Policy Karen Dee says the requirements of the haulage industry are often overlooked during consultations and policy discussions. She says it is something that needs to be addressed. In light of that, the FTA is recommending three changes it believes will help:
- Medical Testing – The current system by which medical tests are conducted and processed leads to unnecessary delays that prevent new drivers from getting to work quickly. It is a system that also prevents drivers with previous medical problems from being reinstated when they are healthy enough to return to work. The FTA believes the current medical testing and processing environment needs to be streamlined.
- Regulatory Enforcement – The FTA wants to see certain changes that will allow the government to enforce current regulations against the guilty without creating subsequent hindrances to those who are playing by the rules. This is a big one. Arbitrary enforcement often leads to innocent operators being negatively impacted by the actions of a few bad apples.
- HGV Testing – Lastly, the FTA wants to see private testing introduced for HGVs. Allowing for private testing will make it much easier for operators to get their inspections done on time so as to not sacrifice fleet productivity while waiting for an open booking.
The DfT consultation is still too new to speculate what the possible outcome might be. However, we believe the FTA is on the right track with its recommendations. It is time we got the DfT, DVLA, DVSA, and VCA on the side of the haulage and transport industries rather than always fighting against us.
Help Us do Better
Those of us active in the haulage and transport sectors – including tertiary industries – are doing our best to keep the economy going with reliable services and haulage. We could use the help of government to do better.
Here at the HGV Training Centre, we could definitely use some help in relation to our LGV training. Government support that would encourage more young people to consider a professional driving career would enable us to train more drivers and effectively reduce the shortage. Previous attempts to enlist government support have failed; that needs to change as well.
As a leading provider of LGV training in the UK, we are fully aware of the need to do something to alleviate the driver shortage. If you want to be part of the solution, we would be happy to train you as an LGV driver.
