Learner HGV driver is hit by months of licence delays
A LEARNER HGV driver from Derbyshire has been left angry and frustrated having quit his job to become a trucker only to face months of nightmarish delays getting his licence.
Aaron Gaden says he’s been left wondering if it has been worth it, having agreed to pay £2,000 in monthly instalments to New Wave Driving School back in May 2021, who told him it could get him through the whole process within 10 weeks. The driving school says delays are due to the Government and technical issues.
Aaron said: “They said to me the process should take about eight to ten weeks in total so you should be able to have your licence, be fully qualified and be on the road as an HGV driver in eight to ten weeks”.
Aaron, 31, from Chesterfield, said: “It took six weeks to get a medical, then with the medical documentation you’ve got the send off your driving licence. It then took six weeks to get that back, only then can you book your first theory test, which is another six-week wait.
“Now they’re telling me it’ll be six weeks to the module two theory test to get the CPC [Driver Certificate of Professional Competence] card and then it’s going to take another six weeks to get a practical test booked.”
New Wave Driving School said the problem isn’t its fault. A spokesman said: “We understand that there will be issues and problems that are not necessarily caused by us. During lockdowns, we refunded in excess of £200,000 to customers as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority were unresponsive so no bookings could take place. This is something we have to deal with on a daily basis.”
Aaron has been waiting so long to get on the road that he had to take other jobs in the mean time. To speed up the process, Aaron says he has begged the DVSA to book him on a Module Two Theory Test as soon as possible and now faces a two-hour drive to Grimsby in two weeks time in order to sit the exam.
The New Wave Driving School spokesperson said it had experienced problems with Government websites when it comes to booking tests. “The websites used to make the candidate’s bookings are all Government portals,” they said.
“They often show technical error pages and queues to get on to the site itself. This will cause huge delays as we are unable to book all required tests if we cannot get
on the site. Again, this is a Government system and an ongoing problem which doesn’t seem to work most of the time.”
Aaron says he’s now been left questioning if it was all worth it after applying when the industry was crying out for lorry drivers. “I thought this is a good opportunity to be able to get a job which is going to be in demand so I’ll have job security.
“But every time I thought I was getting close to completing this and being able to do this job I’ve just been told ‘it’s another six weeks”.
The delays getting his HGV licence has left Aaron frustrated but he also says there’s a job offer out there already and he’s scared the delays could cost him that position: “I have been promised by a company that as soon as I’m qualified they’ll take me on.
“They first offered this to me like three months ago and he said ‘so get qualified as quickly as possible because they really need drivers.’ And then it’s just been panicking every month telling them ‘it’s going to be another six weeks, going to be another six weeks.’
New Wave Driving School first opened in 2009 and has helped thousands of people become HGV drivers.
The spokesman agrees the system is frustrating: “We have several hundred trainees on our books who are more than happy with our service but we know we’re working very hard to assist them through this unnecessarily complex and frustrating process.
“Basically, we take on the ‘donkey work’ by waiting in the queues and repeatedly trying to book and pay for tests etc. The candidate has to only wait for the booking to appear in their email inbox once completed by one of our staff members.”
In September the Government announced a package of measures to help people become HGV drivers but Aaron says those plans haven’t filtered down to the people in the DVSA or the test centres. He’s now a delivery driver for Amazon while he waits to complete his HGV training.