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Strike action is threatening to delay thousands of HGV driving and vehicle tests across the country from this week, DVSA is warning.
HGV driving examiners who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union are planning to take strike action from tomorrow (13 December).
The strike action is part of national industrial action by the PCS union over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms.
The strikes will affect driving test centres in different parts of Great Britain at different times, according to DVSA.
Examiners will be downing tools at test centres in the North East of England and Scotland from tomorrow until Sunday 18 December.
The strike action will then move to the North West of England, Yorkshire and Humber between 19 December and 24 December.
After the Christmas break further strike actions are planned in the East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and parts of London on 28 December, 31 December and 3 January 2023.
These will be followed by strikes at testing centres in the South East and South West of England, Wales and London on 4 January and 10 January.
Operators can check which test centres are affected on the DVSA website.
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However DVSA is warning that tests may be affected at other test centres that are not listed, adding that it will not know this until the day of the strike action.
Vehicle standards assessors, specialist vehicle standards assessors, traffic examiners and vehicle examiners who are members of the PCS union are also set to strike on the same dates.
The DVSA said it does not expect MOTs for HGVs, buses and trailers to be affected by the strike action and advises drivers to attend their vehicle test appointment as planned if it’s on the date of strike action.
However it added that it will not know for certain if these MOTs will be affected until the strike action takes place.
“Not all DVSA staff are PCS union members, and even if they are, they might choose not to go on strike,” the agency said.
DVSA is advising drivers whose HGV MOTs do not go ahead to book another appointment with an MOT centre, which are listed on its website.
DVSA is also advising Authorised Testing Facilities (ATFs) to contact their network business manager if a vehicle standards assessor has not attended their site within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time during the strike action.
