The company says it polled its customers to find out what key questions are being raised the most and have found the following top five questions:
- Will I be able to check the employees’ licences using the new DVLA system as we have more than a handful of driver?
- Does the DVLA system give me any management reports as to the status of my drivers across the business, or is this a one time view of a single driver?
- If this is a free service, how much will it cost my admin staff to operate?
- Does the DVLA service provide alerts or notifications as to points offences on licences?
- Do I need to consider any data protection issues for checking employee licences or can I use the new ‘View Driving Licence’ as an employer on behalf of the driver?
In response, the free video guides give UK fleet managers the inside track on what to look out for when using the new digital services. These video guides are also accompanied by a free guide download document, which sets out the different options for the digital services.
Kevin Curtis, managing director of Driving Monitor, commented: “These free how-to guides are based on our experience of working with the DVLA over the last few years – and clearly map out what a manager would need to do to ensure their company duty-of-care is fully met.
“One of the main areas of confusion we’ve found talking to customers is that the DVLA’s new platform negates the need for any ongoing licence checking system – however it’s clear this one-time free check service that’s on the DVLA website is completely different to the risk management solutions available from ADLV approved suppliers.
“There needs to be a distinction from the service that the DVLA are providing and the services that companies such as Driving Monitor offer fleet and Health & Safety managers. The new DVLA ‘Share My Licence’ service just launched this summer only offers a single view approach and relies on the driver registering for the service (and soon drivers will also need to go through the government gateway ID verification platform). Once a driver has been through this process (10 mins) they would then activate a one-time use code for their employer to use. They would then need to print a form to give to their employer, which then starts the process of the employer needing to access the web service. The employer would then need to access the DVLA portal with the one-time use code to verify the driving licence (a further 5 mins).
“What will become apparent very quickly is that employers will not want their drivers taking up valuable time going through an online approval process to register, then to generate a one-time use code that needs to be handed to the employer. Fleet managers also need to understand that the new DVLA service is not designed to give any ‘management’ reporting or any view across more that one employee.
“Companies such as Driving Monitor offer a completely managed service, from collection of consent to full web dashboard and automated reports on licence status, points, categories and entitlements.
“We find that when a company has more than a handful of drivers the need for an auditable report to cover their Duty of Care comes into play. Fleet managers are far more savvy these days and understand the importance of combining their licence checks with other safety checks such as risk assessments and telematics data. They are demanding integrated services to take the burden away from their admin teams and this is where companies such as Driving Monitor add real value.
“With the costs of a driving licence check being relatively low it doesn’t take long for a company manager to work out that trying to take on the administration of these services in-house soon costs more in staff admin time than using online services.”
To access the free video guides and top tips, click here.
