Under half of UK businesses conduct licence and insurance checks more than twice a year, new research has suggested.
According to data from TomTom Telematics, while 89% check driver documents, just 43% do this more than once every six months.
More worryingly, 15% of the 400 businesses polled admitted their company only checks documents when a new employee joins the team and does not schedule follow-up checks, with a quarter saying they conduct licence checks annually and 3% admitting the checks are carried out every other year.
It also seems that the majority of fleets are somewhat ‘behind the times’, with 60% saying they check documentation manually with the remainder conducting checks electronically.
TomTom’s research also found that just under a quarter (21%) of businesses running grey fleet vehicles do not conduct checks on insurance details.
In addition, TomTom’s results showed that a quarter do not conduct regular safety checks on vehicles used for business purposes, with 64% saying they have processes in place to profile the risk posed by drivers, such as monitoring driving styles.
“Ensuring vehicles and drivers are roadworthy is a fundamental requirement for any organisation that expects employees to drive for business purposes,” said Beverley Wise, director, UK and Ireland at TomTom Telematics. “If organisations are to safeguard employees and protect themselves from risk, it is important to have comprehensive systems in place not only for ensuring checks are conducted frequently but also to ensure findings are properly recorded and acted upon where necessary.”
She added: “Ultimately, businesses need to keep on top of the process to ensure they have all the relevant information they need. Technological systems can help in this respect by setting schedules and notifications for checks and collating results. Telematics also helps facilitate the move to a more proactive approach to vehicle safety by reporting fault codes, allowing maintenance to be conducted before problems become serious.”
