Home Affairs Ministry to limit licence waivers for young truck drivers, to enforce training

The Ministry of Home Affairs will be limiting its practice of waiving the requirements to obtain a licence to drive a motor lorry, and will instead, insist that persons seeking to operate this category of vehicles, must have the requisite training.

This is according to Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond who noted that in the past, too many licence waivers for young truck drivers had been granted.

“There were too many applications for waiver from very young people [of the] requirement to drive a motor lorry, so I believe what’s been happening is that too many young people were allowed to drive these huge canters and big vehicles without requisite training,” the minister said on the “Starting Point” podcast today.

This publication understands that to qualify for a motor lorry driver’s licence, an applicant must be at least 25 years old and possess a minimum of four years’ driving experience.

But according to Minister Walrond, these requirements were often waived in the past due to a need within the private sector to employ truck drivers amid the construction boom.

But now, in light of continued recklessness on the roadways by this category of road users, the minister said this practice must be scaled back.

“Those waivers have been slowed down,” she said.

Instead, the minister said persons wishing to acquire a licence to operate a motor lorry must now undergo the requisite training.

“The Commissioner [of Police] and I have had that discussion…they’re going to make sure they go to the training before they can apply for a motor lorry licence,” the minister said.

In October 2024, Minister Walrond’s predecessor, Minister Robeson Benn, had spoken about the need for specialised training for truck drivers.