Iceland Foods has dramatically cut the turnaround in licence checking over 6,800 drivers using the latest API from DriverCheck.
The API connects seamlessly into the back-office systems at Iceland’s Deeside headquarters, slashing administration time for the food retailer.
It also allows the delivery of instantaneous electronic results, reducing the risk of errors and removing the possibility of double keying.
Iceland Foods, which operates around 1,000 stores across the UK, runs a fleet of around 250 company cars, 1,600 refrigerated diesel vans for delivered sales and home deliveries, and a further 60 vans for maintenance engineers.
The company cars, many of which are plug-in hybrids, are supplied under a solus BMW deal, while the vans and refrigerated vans are a mix of Mercedes- and Ford-badged vehicles.
Fleet manager James Roberts said introducing the API had made a “massive improvement to our licence checking process and was a major uplift in ensuring we are legally compliant”.
“Before we installed the API, we had to resort to manual input which, with 6,800 drivers, you can imagine was very time-consuming and labour-intensive,” explained Roberts.
“On our delivered sales side, we may have several drivers for each vehicle. So ensuring that our drivers are legally entitled to drive is vitally important for us to be able to provide the service to our customers.”
Using the API, the HR department add the driver’s details to the system and Iceland then notifies DriverCheck electronically. Their system automatically emails the driver with an e-declaration to complete. All details are uploaded overnight and any exceptions automatically flagged up.
The system warns of DVLA codes which prevent the driver being accepted, such as convictions for drink driving, drug driving and causing death by dangerous driving. Drivers with six points are allowed, provided their licence doesn’t have any of the prohibited codes.
DriverCheck, a Glasgow-based licence checking and compliance specialist, has launched the API as the next stage in the development and delivery of its services.
The API enables clients to receive licence checking results in real time and to instantly verify driver details without any form of manual input.
Managing director Yvette Giannini said it was the perfect solution for busy HR, fleet and other line managers as it allowed different software systems to communicate directly with each other.
“Think of it as the bridge that enables your back-office system to connect directly with our driver licence checking service. This means you can initiate and receive results of driver licence checks without ever leaving your own platform and get immediate feedback on the status of driver licences.
“The results are delivered in real time and reduce human errors by automating the verification process. As a result, this frees up your HR or fleet team’s time for more strategic tasks. For a business like Iceland Foods with over 6,000 drivers, it is the ideal solution,” she added.
DriverCheck announced outstanding results last year, with sales growth of almost 10% and a further 26,500 drivers added across the 1,300-plus client portfolio. The company recently moved to new offices, almost doubling the space and size on offer, as part of its future expansion plans.
DriverCheck forms part of Ebbon Compliance, said to be the UK’s largest driving licence checking and vehicle compliance business which carries out a total of over 1.6 million licence checks per annum.
