Best Practices for a Safe Driving Fleet

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Maintaining a safe driving fleet involves careful and consistent monitoring of your drivers and their on-the-road behavior. Requesting a Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) check on all applicants before they get behind the wheel of one of your vehicles is only the beginning of a safe driving program. Regular, ongoing monitoring of MVRs leads to increased safety on the road and reduces your company’s exposure to risk.

 

What is an MVR?

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in each state maintains a driving record for each licensed driver. This record, known as the MVR, is a publicly available account of the driver’s name, address, license number, and license status. It also includes information about the driver’s actual driving history, including the following:

 

        Traffic tickets

        Penalties

        Fines

        DUIs and DWIs

        License suspensions

        License revocations

        Accidents

 

MVRs can be ordered from the state for a small fee. Online motor vehicle reports are readily available and easy to obtain.

 

Best Practices

Best practices for maintaining a safe commercial driving fleet include the following:

 

Check MVRs on All Drivers Regularly

The US Department of Transportation requires that employers pull an MVR for all commercial drivers annually. This is the bare minimum; a lot can happen in a year. But running a full MVR on every driver every month is not necessarily the best solution either. Talk to your background screening provider about MVR solutions. For example, ask about services that will alert you to changes in your employee’s driving record to prompt you to run a full MVR.

 

Understand the Point System

Most states use a point system to track reckless or careless drivers. Each traffic violation earns points; as points accumulate, so do insurance rates and the chances for license suspensions or revocations. Understanding the point system in your state will help you better understand your driver’s record.

 

Don’t Rely Solely on Telematics and GPS

Advanced telematics and GPS give fleet managers unprecedented insight into the behavior of their commercial drivers. Information collected by these systems identifies drivers who have unsafe habits or who may need additional training. However, they cannot tell you how your driver behaves in their own vehicle or if they were involved in a DUI last night.

 

Don’t Ignore Risky Behavior

Identifying risky behavior is not sufficient; it’s critical to take action to correct deficiencies and bad habits. Recognizing and remedying poor driving with additional training and coaching improves safety for everyone on the road.

 

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