A Genuine Driver Shortage: How to Manage Availability for Efficient Workforce Management

Skills shortages aren’t uncommon in most sectors, but with qualified drivers allowing their Driving Qualification Cards to lapse, more needs to be done to retain talent in the driving and distribution sector. In fact, 1 in 6 HGV drivers are now not renewing their DQCs – resulting in a loss of over 117,000 drivers.

Driving and distribution companies across the UK now need to consider the consequences of drivers not renewing their DQCs, what this means for the size of their workforce, and how to manage available shifts with a reducing talent pipeline. If the government is to deliver the growth it has planned, more than 800,000 hours of Driver CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) training is required simply to get drivers back on the road, with over 4 million hours necessary to ensure those drivers remain fully qualified.

Through data obtained from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made to the DVLA, we can explore the numbers further, what this means for your business, and how we can retain this crucial talent within our industry.

What the DQC data is showing us

By comparing the number of HGV drivers with DQCs by age band (from October 2024 to May 2025), we are able to better understand the demographics of HGV driving, a shift in attitudes and qualifications across the industry, and further explore what is motivating this change in qualifications for each age bracket.

What the data is telling us:

• More than 117,000 DQCs have expired since October 2024.
• License holders ages 30-44 are more than 1.5x as likely to let their DQCs lapse than those aged 45-69, possibly due to lack of driving work.
• Once drivers get beyond the age of 45 and have retained their licence through the first of their post-pass medicals, they are more likely to have renewed DQCs.
• 50% of drivers with current DQCs are aged 48 or over – peaking in the 55-59-year-old bracket – with nearly 15% of current DQC holders being in this 55-59 age demographic.

This shows an aging population of DQC-approved HGV drivers, with drivers across all age groups allowing their qualifications to expire. The only age group to gain DQC numbers in the previous year was 18-24-year-olds. However, this is only a small amount of the driving population with every other age bracket seeing a decrease in DQC qualifications.

DQC data is a good indicator of all available driving power within the UK, as not all HGV licence holders actively work with large vehicles. It also removes the misleading information of counting licences alone as many drivers might still have a licence without working in the sector. DQC renewals show active drivers within the UK.

CPC Renewal Timeline and Impact

The CPC for HGV drivers was introduced in September 2009, requiring 35 hours of training every five years, creating a natural renewal deadline in September 2024 for many drivers. According to data from the DVLA, over 246,000 drivers had CPCs expiring in September 2024.

By reviewing the latest DQC data, we can better understand and assess the competence and qualification level of drivers in this sector. The main concern here comes from the drop in DQC volume after this deadline. According to the FOI, October 2024 showed nearly 700,000 drivers with DQCs – covering everything from C1 to CE licence holders. However, the latest figures from May 2025 show that over 117,000 DQCs have expired.

This shows that from October 2024 to May 2025, we lost almost 16% of our driving workforce – adding strain to distribution and logistics teams across the UK.

Why DQCs are expiring

From personal changes to industry barriers, there are plenty of reasons our drivers aren’t renewing their DQCs. Some common reasons include:

• Training costs – many drivers aren’t working full-time as HGV drivers and so they are unwilling to commit to the training costs and time.
• Economic uncertainty – due to the reduced demand during 2023 and 2024, many HGV drivers have been discouraged from renewals and instead might explore different sectors.
• Disillusionment – the logistics sector has gained an unfavourable reputation for lack of opportunities for inexperienced drivers, adding a barrier for new employment
• DQC changes – a lack of certainty until the November 2024 clarification, which introduced a fast-track ‘return to driving’ module, could have discouraged renewals

What Your Business Can Do

While there is no guarantee that all 117,000 drivers will return and renew their qualifications, there are steps your business can take to encourage continual renewal and ensure that talent is retained.

While we can expect some HGV drivers to return to training, as the industry and government encourage growth, there will need to be some steps taken to ensure we continue to grow and nurture our talented driving workforce across the UK.

Some necessary steps include:

• Future workforce planning both within the industry and government to accurately forecast and manage workload expectations.
• Additional training to replace retiring drivers due to the aging workforce.
• A drive towards the fast-track option which can require as little as 7 hours of training to reactive expired DQCs – however, this option will no longer be available for most by peak 2026 so requires fast action.
• Immediate communication with drivers to ensure their awareness of the return-to-driving module and avoid the wrong training being completed.
  
  

Kirsten Tisdale FCILT, Director – Logistics Consulting, Aricia Limited