How often do you check your drivers' licences?

29th September 2010

Research conducted by fleet software company CFC has found that company car, van and truck drivers working in consultancy, utilities and telecoms tend to have the most penalty points on their licence - while those in the financial, public sector and health care have the least:

Percentage of drivers with no points
- low risk

1. Financial/insurance - 93.69%
2. Public sector - 90.96%
3. Healthcare - 88.56%
4. Industrial/engineering - 87.64%
5. Transportation - 86.31%

Percentage of drivers with five or
more points - high risk

1. Consultancy - 8.33%
2. Utilities - 7.20%
3. Telecommunications - 6.42%
4. Recruitment - 3.23%
5. Construction - 3.06%

Neville Briggs, CFC's managing director, said it was pleasing to see the transportation sector among the lowest risk drivers: "Van and truck drivers often suffer from a poor public image and we all have our own horror stories about the on-road behaviour of white van men. However, the figures show that these drivers, who after all are driving professionals and are often highly trained, are among the safest on the road."

However, CFC also reports that one in five fleets is failing to regularly recheck driving licences after carrying out an initial check.

"A relatively high number of fleets who appear to be treating licence checks as a 'once only' exercise," said Briggs. "They use our Licence Link software once to check with the DVLA, and take account of the results, but then have no structured plans to rerun the check. It is a worrying trend and, in all probability, a duty of care failing."

CFC advises that the frequency of rechecks should be based on how many points a driver has on his or her licence. For most fleets, the guidance is annually for those with no points, every six months for those with 1-3, every three months for those with 4-7, and every month for those with 8-12.

This common sense approach, which is followed by all risk management specialists, is based on the principle that drivers with points represent a greater risk to the fleet and that the more points they have, the higher the risk they are.

"Clearly," Briggs added, "drivers in the highest risk categories, where they are only one or two offences away from a ban, may require additional training and certainly their licences need to be checked regularly. They are the highest risk from a duty of care point of view but also have the most to lose in the event of a ban – probably their job – and so are much more likely to try to hide that information."