Licence Bureau has published a five-point plan to help companies ensure seasonal drivers remain compliant during the busy Christmas period.
Although a spike in sales in the run-up to Christmas can lead many delivery companies to take on seasonal staff, incorporating potentially less experienced drivers into your fleet, at perhaps the most hazardous time of the year, can expose fleets to risk.
In response, Licence Bureau managing director Malcolm Maycock says sticking to the firm’s five-point guide will help with risk management issues.
- Always check a driver’s licence and take special care if the driver is a non-UK licence holder to ensure they are qualified to drive the vehicle in question.
- Reinforce to the driver the number of hours they are entitled to work while driving a specific vehicle. And if the vehicle does not have a tachograph, reinforce to them the ratio of driving to rest they are advised to take each day.
- Make sure a driver is familiar with UK roads – test their knowledge of the Highway Code and if necessary get them to take you for a drive round the block to be sure you ‘know your driver’ before they undertake work on your behalf.
- Be very clear about your zero-tolerance drink drive and drug drive policy.
- Reinforce that vehicles will be spot checked by the company on a regular basis and that daily checks must take place on all key safety items such as tyres, brakes and lights, and that servicing and MOTs should always be in place while the vehicle is in use.
“Just because companies are only employing new drivers for an 8-10-week period over Christmas doesn’t mean they should be tempted to drop their recruitment standards. This should be used as a check list as it covers off all eventualities when employing a new driver, whether they are driving your vehicle or their own,” said Maycock.
“Companies should have in the back of their mind the problems when things go wrong, such as the recent crash on the M1 where the driver allegedly had a revoked licence but was still driving a company vehicle. Stick to the plan and ensure that everybody has both a safe and merry Christmas,” he added.For more of the latest industry news, click here.
