J pass his details on; the same goes for the two newly qualified drivers featured here.
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Another problem facing prospective truck drivers was bought close to home at the CM offices recently. Executive editor Robin Meczes applied for a provisional licence to drive HGVsand much to his amazement he was been turned down on medical grounds.
"Before I made the application [went to my GP about occasional feelings of faintness and giddiness that I have had for years," says Meczes. "I thought that if I'm going to learn to drive an I-IGV they are going to give me a medical and it's time I got to the bottom of this."
Doctor
After many tests he was given a clean bill of health by his GP, who told him that he was happy for him to drive HCVs. As part of the application process a medical form has to be filled out in the presence of a doctor, so Meczes went to our parent company's in-house doctor.
"I explained the situation to him, he asked me a load of questions and did a second ECG on me and announced that he was also perfectly happy that I could drive an HGV," says Meczes, "Although I had certain dizzy spells, they are not disabling. Both doctors came to the conclusion that I am suffering from minor fluctuations in my blood sugar levels."
The application form asks: "Do you suffer from disabling faintness or dizziness?" In the opinion of two doctors Meczes is not disabled by dizzy spells so he decided this was not an issue and sent in his application.
"After a long time the DVLA said that there had been a delay on my application because it had been referred to its medical expert," says Meczes. "I asked what was involved and the DVLA said that its medical expert would get in touch with my GP. I thought fine, I've already gone through the tests."
Appeal
But Meczes was turned down. There is an appeal system through the magistrates' court but, as the letter accompanying the refusal makes clear, this could be a costly affair. "There are clearly issues about operators and would-be drivers taking an expensive legal action which they may lose," says Meczes. "It's different for me; I've got the backing of Commercial Motor if I want to pursue it. Anyone else is just going to give up at this stage."
Although the industry is crying out for drivers it seems that getting into the driving seat is far from easy. Passing your test is no guarantee of workâand that's if you can get a provisional licence in the first place.