FTA licence check reveals most common failures

The Freight Transport Association’s driver licence checking service has now carried out 10,000 checks on driver licences and has revealed some of the most frequent problems.

The FTA service was developed in conjunction with Licence Bureau, (a leading provider of secure driver licence checks), to manage this labour-intensive job on members’ behalf, ensuring that their business is operating legally while providing immediate benefits from time and cost savings.

Sam Law, general manager - FTA Affinities, said: "Companies using the FTA driver licence checking service are kept constantly informed of all relevant compliance issues, thus ensuring control of driver management and risks.

"Experience shows that they can achieve a high level of driver compliance within the first three to six weeks of enrolment in the scheme."

According to Licence Bureau figures, more than five out of every 1,000 company car, van and truck drivers do not hold a valid licence to legally drive their company vehicle, and without a licence checking service in place, the companies employing those five or six employees to drive a company vehicle would be breaking the law and compromising their duty of care obligations.

The service has analysed more than a quarter of a million licence checks it made during 2013 and has highlighted the top five reasons for business drivers failing initial licence checks and subsequent re-checks.

At the initial licence check stage, provisional licence holders cause fleets the biggest headaches.

Provisional drivers cannot legally drive unaccompanied or on motorways so these drivers slipping through the net could cause major issues for fleets.

Drivers whose licences are revoked as a result of failing to add penalty points when convicted, expired licence holders and disqualified drivers make up the remainder of the licence failure list.

Through the FTA and the Licence Bureau’s recheck system customers are notified of any further issues with employees, but its statistics reinforce the need for rechecking a driver’s licence regularly.