Hauliers warn of growing crisis as truck driver testing delays worsen

The Irish Road Haulage Association has accused the Road Safety Authority (RSA) of sidelining the commercial driving sector by shifting testing staff to focus on car tests, in an effort to cut wait times under political pressure. The move, they say, has led to a 62–69% collapse in scheduled tests for trucks and buses, with commercial test backlogs soaring despite a drop in demand.

Industry leaders argue the bottleneck is threatening rural economic activity and worsening the shortage of qualified drivers essential to logistics, tourism and trade. The RSA says delays are temporary and that additional capacity will come online by September.

See what’s driving this standoff and what it means for your business here.