In an attempt to tackle the ever-growing shortage of HGV drivers the government has proposed multiple ideas on how they can solve the issues our industry is currently facing.

The most contentious idea and one that has received much attention and backlash from vocal industry leaders has been a proposal to change drivers licence rules to allow car licence holders to drive trucks. The changes, if accepted, would allow car licence holders to drive a vehicle weighing up to 7.5 tonnes having only passed the standard car driving test.

To put this in perspective this could enable someone going from driving a Volkswagen polo to driving a box van – quite a difference in not only size but operation and handling, also. Understandably, there has been a myriad of concerns expressed by many in the industry regarding the safety of this policy not only to new drivers but other road users.

Many have called for some training to be maintained but at the moment any additional training would be at the discretion of the operator and wouldn’t be compulsory from a licence perspective.

Should this come into effect, licence checks would become even more important in the eyes of transport managers as they navigate a fleet of drivers with mixed training and experience. Descartes SmartLicence is perfectly set up for you to tailor your licence checks – now and in the future.

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