DVSA on the Hunt for New LGV Examiners

It wasn’t too long ago that the government promised to speed up the licencing process for new commercial drivers by reducing wait times for testing. Although little has been done on that front thus far, it appears as though the DVSA is now making a concerted effort to recruit a whole new army of LGV examiners to keep up with demand.

According to Recruiter magazine, the DVSA has recruited 78 new car examiners in the hopes of promoting more experienced examiners to positions as LGV testers. Our question is this: will the new LGV examiner also be an experienced LGV driver? This is something we believe the industry deserves to know.

Under normal operating procedures, the DVSA does not specifically hire LGV examiners straightaway. They tend to start all examiners on standard passenger vehicles and then promote from there. The best car examiners will move on and be allowed to test for motorcycles, LGVs, and PCVs.

We also know that examiners must go through an extensive amount of training in addition to having a good driving record and possessing their own car licence for a minimum of four years. What we do not know is the kind of training experienced examiners undergo before being promoted to examine future PCV and LGV drivers. If their only training is confined to what is learned in the classroom, are they the right kinds of individuals to be testing the future drivers who will be operating on public roads?

LGV Driving Is Not Easy

Becoming an LGV driver requires a candidate to pass a series of four different tests as determined by the Driver CPC requirements. It is nearly impossible to pass those tests without adequate formal training with a company like ours. And even after training is complete, there is still plenty the LGV driver will have to learn on-the-job. This is why we question the fitness of examiners who may not have experience as professionals.

Those new examiners may do just fine. But then again, they may not. The truth is that driving an LGV is not easy even under the best of conditions. Examiners must sit side-by-side with candidates as they pay attention to how well those candidates handle their vehicles. If the examiner does not have an appropriate amount of LGV driving experience him or herself, it may not be possible to provide an adequate assessment of the candidate’s skills.

There is little we can do to change what is happening with the DVSA. If there is any good news here, it is the fact that at least the government is taking steps to fulfil its promise of getting more examiners in place to speed up testing. For every new LGV driver that successfully makes it through the testing regimen, we are one step closer to adequately tackling the driver shortage. In that regard, the DVSA recruitment effort for new LGV examiners is good. Let us just hope the right people are chosen for the job.

Sources:

Recruiter – https://www.recruiter.co.uk/2015/12/dvsa-hunt-more-lgv-examiners