A Carlisle business has introduced safety screens across its fleet of training vehicles to keep learner truck drivers and their instructors as safe as possible.

Chairman of SP Training, Robin Brown, said: “With demand for large goods vehicle drivers as high as ever, it was important for SP Training to come up with a solution to ensure we could continue to safely carry out practical training in our trucks.

“The clear screens provide a physical barrier in the fight against Covid-19, creating a safe environment for both drivers and instructors and allowing us to re-start truck licence training. As well as allowing communication between driver and instructor, the screens also provide unobstructed vision from both seats.”

The business is working with some of the UK’s largest haulage companies, retailers and supermarkets, to train new large goods vehicle (LGV) drivers to obtain their truck licences and address the nationwide shortage of delivery drivers, which is estimated to be more than 50,000 nationally.

SP Training provides truck licence instruction to drivers of all ages, bringing new LGV drivers into the industry through the Apprenticeship pathway.

The company has also moved many of its training courses online, now delivering approved Driver CPC training courses remotely via Zoom.

With driving instruction, manoeuvring and skills tuition forming a key part of truck licence acquisition, the in-cab screens will form a physical barrier in the ongoing fight against Covid-19, while allowing training to get back up and running again safely.