The lorry driver crisis is being made worse because there aren't enough people to put new lorry drivers through their tests, according to a lorry driver examiner.
The trainer, who has asked not to be named, claimed up to 40 per cent of examiners have left in recent months because of poor pay, leading to a shortage of examiners.
He claimed that examiners are leaving the profession to become lorry drivers as they can earn up to £40,000 a year, compared to a lower salary as an examiner.
READ MORE: The lorry driver crisis in the eyes of a Severn Beach haulage firm
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has said having additional testing capacity in Bristol is a priority and the number of tests available will continue to increase from next week as new LGV examiners complete their training.
The trainer said it started getting bad after Easter last year, adding this is leading to a situation where there are not enough tests available.
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He said: "Normally, you would be getting up to three people a week doing the exams while now you would be lucky to get two and some weeks it is only one because there are not enough tests to go round.
"It is getting worse, not better. Everybody is having problems."
The trainer claimed there are waiting lists for driving tests and that some weeks there is only one examiner working in Bristol, adding in the next ten weeks he has only been able to book five tests.
He said that there are people wanting to become lorry drivers, but that they are being impacted by the delays.
Another problem is the DVLA taking up to eight months to process provisional driving licenses, he claimed, as people can't start to learn without them.
The DVLA has disputed this, saying there are no delays for lorry licence applications.
The DVLA said: "These are currently being issued in normal processing times of around 5 days. It is also important to note that we have been issuing as normal since November."
The trainer said that the DVSA should be recruiting more and paying examiners more, adding that a £35,000 salary would be much better.
He claimed he is losing up to £5,000 a month because of these problems.
BristolLive understands the latest average waiting time for an HGV or bus driving test is around 3 weeks.
What the DVSA says
A DVSA spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting the government’s plans to tackle the lorry driver shortage by offering more HGV driving tests and have met with trainers in Bristol to listen to their concerns and discuss our plans for increasing testing in Bristol over the forthcoming weeks.
“We have increased HGV driving tests through a range of measures, including allowing training providers to carry out off-road exercises and removing the need for candidates to take a fixed trailer HGV test before taking an articulated HGV test that will create an extra 700 tests a week.
“To help meet the unprecedented demand for LGV tests a campaign to recruit additional vocational driving examiners in England and Wales was launched by DVSA in August.
"Having additional testing capacity in Bristol is a priority and the number of tests available will continue to increase from next week as new LGV examiners complete their training.”
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