The lockdown has stopped some of life’s most essential activities. From hugging loved ones to attending school, and we’ve all had to comply for the greater good. However, sometimes it’s difficult to view the halting of certain activities as good, and not short-sighted.
Despite logistics operations getting vaccines, groceries and critical parts where they’re needed, the testing of professional drivers has virtually stopped. A lack of testing during lockdown means that once restrictions lift there will be a significant backlog plus reduced capacity. This means transport managers are going to have to manage extremely long training cycles.
Without adequate driver numbers, there will be further supply chain disruption.
The situation makes former concerns around driver shortages seem tedious. With Brexit, COVID-19 restrictions and fall-out from the Kent delays over New Year, accessibility to new drivers is a major concern.
Even before COVID hit, due to the shortage of DVSA assessors, trainees had to wait between four and eight weeks to book practical training once they’d passed their theory.
In a recent ITV report, it was flagged that there were just 74 full-time examiners across the whole country in January.
So how can businesses ensure that when the ‘doors’ to the DVSA open up again, they will be in line?
At HGVC we’re highly proactive when it comes to condensing the training process, and see ourselves as a buffer for businesses.
We have a network of more than 150 medical providers so that we can select the earliest available appointment from multiple centres in the candidate’s area. And we’re provided with preferential dates.
To ensure there aren’t further delays, our medical providers will assist in the completion of D2 and D4 forms to ensure they’ve been filled out correctly.
With 1 in 3 forms being completed incorrectly by GPs, the process can grind to a halt before it’s even started. Our medical provider network specialises in driver medicals so the error rate is low, just one in 1,000.
Our system will also inform us if a candidate hasn’t revised enough within two weeks of their test date. We’ll take this opportunity to send an SMS to see if any additional support is needed.
If they still haven’t studied enough, or passed enough mock tests, with a week to go before their theory test, we will contact them to rearrange the theory test. This monitoring maximises first-time passes.
We select the soonest available date from multiple theory test centres in the candidate’s locale. Additionally, if there’s an urgent need, and the candidate doesn’t mind travelling slightly further, we can select sooner dates from test centres further afield if available.
We proactively reach out to candidates as soon as they have taken their theory test to ascertain whether they’ve passed and, if they have, immediately move on to booking the practical element of the course.
We choose the soonest practical course available from among multiple training centres in the locale.
Candidates are assessed daily on their on-road progress to ensure they are picking up skills in a timely manner to ensure they will be test-ready in time. At the start of their practical course, the instructor will identify whether the candidate would benefit from some additional time behind the wheel. Again, it might seem counterintuitive but increasing the amount of training (and thus the course completion time) on an individual basis will increase average pass rates and, in turn, reduce the average course completion time.
We also offer a ‘fast track’ service when you have a really tight deadline. We speed the process up by booking tests at the same time based on expected completion dates. It’s another way we’ve been able to manage our clients’ training needs more efficiently.
