Tag: licencechecking

Driving licence checking doesn’t have to be a headache

Handling driving licence checking can be a chore, taking up valuable time from HR and Fleet Managers. Businesses that manage driver checks manually waste a significant amount of time (and subsequently, money). That’s where Licence Link comes in! HR teams can manage hundreds of drivers at once, with results returned in real-time. It’s a no brainer.

Licence Link makes it easy for employers to keep track of every driver in the business. The system is intuitive and has a range of useful tools to help businesses in every sector comply. Alongside Driver, CPC and Tacho checking, Licence Link includes features to help with:

Managing Driver Transfers

Businesses with employees that work (or transfer) between branches can manage their teams seamlessly in Licence Link.

There’s no need to delete or recreate drivers. Records are accessible across all branches, to provide total visibility. This saves on cost and admin time.

Licence Link sends each driver a digital approval. Once signed, any branch can run a licence check on the driver for the next three years. This is simple to set up within the systems permissions.

This is explained by Leigh Lafever-Ayer, AVP HR UK and Ireland at Enterprise-Rent-a-Car:

“With digital approvals and instant real-time checks, new drivers can be on the road in minutes, rather than days. Enterprise Rent-A-Car has peace of mind knowing that we are managing our Duty of Care responsibilities with Licence Link.”

Handling Associated Drivers

If employees share their company car with a partner or spouse, the business is responsible for checking both drivers’ records.

Any endorsements could potentially invalidate the business’s insurance policy. With Licence Link, employers can track both records as one, seamlessly. The system automatically deletes any associated drivers, if the employee leaves, to comply with GDPR.

Licence Link removes the time involved when processing and maintaining associated drivers. This includes regaining approval, as both employee and partner can be prompted at once, plus automating the checking routine. Here, both employees and partners can be automatically checked on a recurring basis – based on the risk they pose.

For example, drivers with 6+ points who pose a high risk can be checked bi-annually, and lower-risk drivers annually. Once set up, Licence Link automates the entire process, with minimal human intervention required.

For fleets with potentially hundreds of drivers, Licence Link reduces the risk and time involved significantly.

Insufficient Credit Alerts

In Licence Link, users can order credits upfront to pay for their driving licence checking needs, on mass. The system notifies users when these are running short, allowing the business to re-order. This prevents the risk of missed checks and saves hours of inputting details for each individual driver.

In comparison, managing licence checks manually is slower, less secure and runs the risk of human error.

Frequency Groups

Licence Link is completely adaptable to the business needs. Users can categorise employees – such as by risk, or vehicle category. This makes it easy to filter the built-in reports in the system, or when scheduling checks, saving hours of unnecessary admin.

Users can simply set up automated alerts and schedule checks in advance, based on how frequently they wish to check each category. This eliminates the risk of missed checks (and unidentified endorsements), along with the hefty fines which would result.

Businesses managing this process manually must keep their own record of all driver checks – an arduous task. They refer to spreadsheets and paperwork to calculate how often each driver needs to be checked, then must remember to do so.

The system gives you the control that you need, allowing you to check company drivers and manage risk effectively. It’s completely automated, with notifications eliminating any manual intervention. This definitely is a benefit with over 460 locations and over 4,000 drivers nationwide.” – explains Lafever-Ayer at Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

Built-in Reports 

Licence Link’s reporting suite provides access to historic checks in just moments. It’s easy to manage drivers, with access to real-time results, customisable reports, and automated scheduling. These factors remove hours of hassle, associated with manually managing driver checks.

How Can Businesses Seriously Save?

The benefits of Licence Link’s driving licence checking services are substantial. Businesses can easily meet their Duty of Care requirements, whilst avoiding the costly consequences of non-compliance. HR Managers can focus on adding value in their role, rather than co-ordinating hundreds of drivers, separately. The tools and reports they need are available at their fingertips in a matter of clicks.

See how Licence Link can benefit your fleet business today.

Get clued up on the latest rules to reduce risk

In the last twelve months, there has been a number of risk-inducing changes for road users. Such changes can increase the risk of collision for drivers or could lead to new endorsements. Failure to identify new penalty points, gained by employees, could result in serious consequences for the employer. Therefore, it’s key these changes (and employee licences, as a result) are carefully monitored.

Here’s a list of the recent changes, and reasons why employers should take note:

Motorways

Changes to the UK driving test have been introduced to prepare novice drivers for everyday driving conditions. This includes allowing learner drivers onto motorways. It’s vital that all drivers understand how to use a Smart motorway and follow the rules.

Motorway users, including those driving for business purposes, should be attentive to ‘learner’ marked vehicles. These could pose a heightened risk of accidents or damage to company vehicles. Therefore, drivers should take extra precautions when passing or driving nearby these vehicles. Advising employees to be attentive around learner vehicles, and keep adequate stopping distances, could minimise this risk, along with driver downtime and the associated costs involved, in the event of a collision.

The Driving Test

Part of the driving test involves an independent drive, without instruction from the examiner. This has now increased to 20 minutes, and either involves following traffic signs or using instructions from a Sat Nav.

When it comes to reversing, learners could now also be asked to parallel park or to park in a parking bay. Additionally, the driver has to be able to pull up on the right-hand side of the road, reverse for approximately the length of two cars and re-join the traffic.

These changes have been criticised by driving examiner members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), over safety concerns. It’s key that drivers are vigilant and provide ample space for learners, when out on the road. Again, advising employees to take extra caution when approaching (or passing) a parked learner vehicle could prevent the risk of an accident, injury or damage to company vehicles.

New Motorway Penalties

Highways England have introduced Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) based cameras, to monitor hard shoulders on smart motorways. However, many drivers fail to understand or abide by the rules, which puts other road users at risk.

Drivers who continue to use the lane when there is a red ‘X’ showing now face automatic penalties, including fines and three points on their Driving Licence. Often, drivers leave the manoeuvre from the closed lane to the last minute. Other drivers panic and try to force through into the open lane, fearing the fine and the points.

Both scenarios can pose a significant danger to other road users, and increase the risk of collision. For this reason, employers may wish to advise their drivers to take extra caution when approaching motorway exits or when merging lanes. This could save the stress, hassle, time, money and injuries which could result.

In Conclusion, have Risk Levels Changed?

Employers are responsible for ensuring that their drivers remain entitled to drive. It’s key for them to stay alert for any legislative changes, as these could increase the risk of new endorsements, impacting the validity of drivers in their team.

Using Licence Link to check driving licences on a frequent basis enables employers to keep on top of higher-risk drivers, or any changes to licences. In effect, this prevents the risk of sending out drivers who may have unknowingly attained (or that do not disclose) new endorsements, and the consequences that result.

The key to minimising risk is to stay ahead. Making employees aware of new changes is helpful. However, to be sure that drivers aren’t breaking the law, it’s essential employers regularly check their teams’ licences. Licence Link removes the hassle and time from this task, enabling employers to check drivers on mass, automate their checking routine and receive results fast.

Get in touch to see how your fleet business could benefit.

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