Driver Selection and Management

Drivers are for many organisations the public face, its important that you recruit the right competent individuals and ensure that they are trained to meet that standards set in your business organisation. They play a key role in ensuring that your road risk is kept low by reducing incidents and helping to promote approaches to road safety

You should develop a robust framework for the recruitment and retention of competent drivers, a competent driver has a combination of skill sets and training that means they will drive safely.

Your framework must also include all types of drivers - a driver is ANY person who drives for your organisation on ANY business, this includes;

Professional Drivers - employed directly by your organisation where 75% or more of thier employment duties is to drive your company vehicles NOTE, this may include your sales team if they spend lots of time on the road travelling to appointments.

Non - Professional Drivers - this is everyone else who drives for you on business, including those who use thier own or hire cars to attend meetings or carry out a work related activity such as dropping of the post on the way home

Third Part Drivers - This can includes people like contractors who you may use

Recruitement

Your robust framework should include your criteria for employment, fitness to work, experience levels and assessments of the skills that they have indicated through practical and theory testing by a trained assessor.

Management

Drivers should receive regular feedback from line managers and supervisors on thier overall performance, as well as health assessments (physical and mental) fatigue management and rewards.

You should keep accurate records of all the details of drivers, including driving licence checks, courses completed and all assessments and reviews..

Professional Development

All drivers should be encouraged with thier development. In the UK thier is a legal requirement for drivers to undertake CPC training, however, this is often seen as pointless training that does not provide drivers with any additional skills or improve competency.

Consider carefully and work with your drivers to provide to them training that helps develop them, this may be specialist courses individuals want to take, this may be for larger type vehicles or carrying specialist loads such as chemicals,