TRS Training’s driving academy in Knowsley approved as a test centre for Large Goods Vehicle driving.

TRS Training, a logistics skills provider based in the Northwest, is now ready to do its part to relieve the shortage of qualified Large Good Vehicle (LGV) drivers in the UK. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has given its approval for TRS Training’s driving academy in Knowsley to become a test centre for LGV driving.

The limited number of official test centres across the country, as well as the suspension of tests for months on end during the Covid-19 pandemic, has created a bottleneck: learner lorry drivers who have completed their training find themselves facing as long as seven or eight months before they finally get a chance to take their test.

Kevin Birch, Managing Director at TRS, said: “We are grateful to the DVSA for recognising the need for more qualified LGV drivers, and taking action to address the shortage. TRS, as well as other training companies, have long lists of students waiting for tests. It’s been particularly frustrating to watch people work through our LGV apprenticeships, government bootcamps, and private training programmes only to hit a brick wall when they were ready to book their test. And especially at a time when more qualified LGV drivers are so desperately needed.

“We are very pleased to be able to offer a seamless service comprising a LGV driving training course and licence test to both individual drivers and the companies who employ them. There were 15 organisations from the Northwest who applied for approval to be test centres – TRS was one of just five to be approved.”

From January 2023, DVSA will locate one examiner at TRS’s training academy two days a week, to conduct tests for TRS learner drivers on apprenticeships, LGV bootcamps and commercial driving courses.

TRS expects this will go a long way to dealing with the backlog of people wishing to start their careers as LGV drivers.

For more information, visit www.trstrainingltd.com