The Driver Scenario
The Office Manager at ABC Technology Company asks an Assistant to pick up lunch for the department’s twice-a-week meetings. The Marketing Director sends their Social Media Strategist to grab coffee before every weekly brainstorming session. The company hasn’t screened the Assistant’s or the Strategist’s driving records. After all, their personal insurance will cover any accidents. Right? The company isn’t at risk. Right?
Wrong.
Almost everyone understands that trucking companies, transport operations, and other organizations with fleets should require a thorough driver screening policy. However, other employed drivers may be opening your company up to risk.
These drivers fall into a group called “hired/non-owned drivers”.
Who Are Hired/Non-Owned Drivers?
This group of drivers probably has “driver” nowhere near their titles. They are the employees who, like the scenario above, run errands, drive to meet clients, visit job sites, or go see patients. Driving during work may be a tiny portion of their job duties, unlike truck or delivery drivers.
Hired/non-owned drivers are common in organizations across all types of industries. A whopping 30-40 million employees use their own vehicles to drive for work-related activities.
The confusion stemming from hired/non-owned drivers is that they typically use their own vehicles during these tasks. The assumption is that, since they’re using their own vehicles, their personal insurance covers them if they’re in an accident.
This assumption is incorrect.
How can Hired/Non-Owned Drivers Put Your Company at Risk?
The company can be liable for the costs above what their insurance covers if an employee is in an accident while performing a work function.
Hired/non-owned drivers may be riskier than full-time drivers for a couple of reasons. First, full-time drivers make their living by being able to legally operate a vehicle. They protect their licenses and are careful to avoid reckless and negligent driving. Second, companies are more likely to put full-time drivers through a rigorous screening process before putting them on the road. Neither of these points apply to employees who drive their own vehicles for company business every now and then.
This group of drivers pose several risks to companies:
Employees who drive their own vehicles for work functions, no matter how rarely, are one of the biggest risks companies face. That’s why companies should screen them thoroughly.
What Should You Do to Screen Every-Now-and-Then Drivers?
Organizations with hired/non-owned drivers should protect themselves by proactively initiating a way to handle this employee group. Here are 3 things companies should do:
The first step in reducing the risk these drivers pose to your company is being aware of it Put procedures in place, screen these drivers as you do full-time drivers, and educate them on the expectations of safe driving. A detailed plan can increase your confidence you won’t end up dealing with costly litigation and bad press from future driver-related accidents.