Posted: Friday, 18 July 2014
The Tenbury Transport Trust recently announced a brand-new route to service customers once a week in the Worcestershire area. The trust, which only recently gained charitable status, already operates three other routes. It provides affordable transportation for those in under-served areas by way of a 15-seat Mercedes bus and volunteer drivers. A number of other volunteers use their own cars to provide transportation. However, does the charity have a licence check policy in place?
Because the charity's bus only seats 15, drivers do not need to earn public service vehicle (PSV) licences. Nevertheless, they must still have standard class B licences that are valid. Worcestershire County Council vets all drivers before they can begin volunteering. After that, it is the responsibility of the charity to make sure licences are in order. To that end, utilising a licence check service like Fleet Licence Check is a good idea.
Fleet Licence Check uses the latest state-of-the-art software to run routine licence checks for their commercial clients. The company maintains a direct connection with the DVLA to ensure a secure transaction with results going directly to the customer. Fleet Licence Check now runs approximately 20,000 checks every year on behalf of major motor carriers throughout the UK. We work with small businesses as well.
Checking the licences of volunteer drivers is no different from checking up on professionals. A lot can happen between the last time a volunteer driver gets behind the wheel and the next time he or she plans to drive. Moreover, not every driver is responsible enough to inform his or her supervisor of a potential licence problem. One need only read the news to know this is true.
There are frequent stories about drivers being stopped by the police and, upon undergoing a licence check, found to be driving illegally. Without routine checks, it is too easy to put your company or organisation in jeopardy by allowing a non-qualified driver to operate your vehicles. While such problems are less frequent among charities, such organisations are not exempt from trouble.
The DVLA does make it possible for some organisations to run licence checks on their own. However, it is a time-consuming process that can be more trouble than it's worth. Hiring a company like Fleet Licence Check makes running routine checks as simple and easy as possible.
A failure to keep tabs on drivers opens up a charity to liability in the event of an accident or other mishap. Making things worse is the fact that charities are expected to go above and beyond to make sure things are done correctly. Nothing will ruin the charity faster than to have its reputation tarnished by a liability issue. And nothing will tarnish that reputation faster than a non-qualified driver being caught behind the wheel.
If your charitable organisation operates vehicles in any manner, make sure you have a licence check policy in place. Otherwise, you could be jeopardising the future effectiveness of your organisation.