A greater focus on licence checking is having a positive effect on driving behaviour, with employees becoming increasingly concerned how they might be viewed by their employer, according to CFC Solutions.

New figures from the software company reveal around one-in-seven company car and van drivers tested through its Licence Link system had points on their licence, compared to one-in-five last November.

“What fleet managers are saying to us is that the process of checking makes drivers face up to the consequences of having points on their licence,” explained Neville Briggs, managing director of CFC Solutions. “This is especially true of drivers who already have points and fall into higher risk categories.

“Obviously, there is a time lag involved with this effect because of the years that it can take for points to be removed from a licence, but the feedback we are receiving suggests that introducing structured checking helps to stop new offences occurring.”

CFC also believes licence checking is being employed as a risk management improvement tool by a growing number of organisations.

Briggs explained: “Many fleets adopting Licence Link view it not just as a monitoring system that looks at driving licences, but something that creates impetus within their organisations to really get to grips with fleet risk management.”

There is no current legislation that specifically requires an employer to check the driving records of their employees, however, the Road Traffic Act 1988 (88) (2) says that ‘it is an offence for a person to cause or permit another person to drive on a road a motor vehicle of any class if that other person is not the holder of a licence authorising him to drive a motor vehicle of that class’.

ACFO’s best practice guide on ‘Employee Driving Document Checking’ says: “Therefore, any employer who is found to have permitted a person to drive a vehicle on business - whether a company-supplied vehicle or a privately-owned vehicle, which is often known as the ‘grey’ fleet - without ensuring they have a valid licence, is guilty of an offence.”

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