The Best Way to Handle Licence Violations & Endorsements
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If you’re an HGV driver or transport manager in the UK, licence endorsements and violations are a serious matter. They carry with them major repercussions for both employers and those who drive for them, meaning that understanding how to manage them when they occur is crucial.
We aim to help you in this article by looking at the best way for transport managers to handle these infractions when they happen as well as looking at how they can ensure their whole fleet stays on the right side of the law.
Licence Endorsements – What You Need to Know
The definition of an endorsement is an entry on a driver’s licence that officially denotes any traffic offences or violations they’ve committed. You could be talking about something minor like a SP30 speeding or a more serious offence, such as reckless driving or driving whilst drunk.
These endorsements often come with points that can result in the driver in question having their ability to work in the industry severely restricted.
What Transport Managers Can Do
So, what can you do as a transport manager to ensure that your drivers are driving legally and safely when it comes to driving licence endorsements? There are a number of things you can implement to make sure everyone in your fleet is working within the bounds of the rules.
Regular Licence Checks
To begin with, you can carry out regular manual checks of your drivers’ licences, so that you can quickly pick up on any new points or violations. Naturally, you should also foster a working environment in which drivers should feel comfortable about volunteering this information proactively.
Digital Tracking Systems
Something else you can do is use the latest technology in this area, which essentially means leveraging the benefits of digital tracking and record-keeping systems.
Educating Drivers on the Implications
When everyone in your fleet is on the same page with regard to what’s required, the task of ensuring compliance gets that much easier. To this end, you should offer awareness training to your staff about the wider implications of incurring endorsements and the importance of safe driving.
These ramifications include possible fines, restrictions and in the worst cases, complete disqualification from driving.
Taking Proactive Steps to Prevent Endorsements
Over and above general awareness training and regular checks, another way to prevent driver endorsements is to offer defensive driving courses. Telematics monitoring systems can also keep track of driving behaviours, highlighting areas in which drivers may need extra support or training.
Also, by working closely with your insurance provider, you can better understand the wider insurance premium and coverage implications of getting points on your licence – something you can relay to your drivers. Obviously, you’ll need to report all of these violations to your provider in a timely manner.
The Importance of Creating a Culture of Compliance
Invariably, the best approach when it comes to compliance is to create a workplace where it’s seen as being of the highest importance. This means fostering a culture where safe driving is valued and, in turn, rewarded.
As such, you should be sure to encourage drivers to report any issues or concerns they have and provide a supportive environment for discussing driving performance.
How to Deal with Disqualifications & Penalties
No system can fully prevent all penalties and disqualifications, so what do you do if and when they arise? For starters, you should have clear, widely understood, policies for handling these instances and when they do occur, you need to provide guidance and support – something that may extend to assisting with legal proceedings.
When you have a situation in which a driver becomes a repeat offender, it’s important to create an individual action plan for them, focusing on their continued training and monitoring. Any subsequent disciplinary procedures implemented along the way need to be firm but fair.
It’s also vital that you maintain up-to-date, accurate driver records, including all infractions, and be audit-ready at all times – just in case you get a visit. If you’d like more info on the subject, explore our guide on The Implications of Licence Endorsements and Penalties.
Staying On Top of Licence Endorsements & Violations
If you want to run a tight ship in terms of licence endorsements, you must ensure that all of your drivers are well-informed. You also need to provide ongoing training and make sure that your workplace is one that makes drivers feel comfortable in reporting any offences that come up.
You may, at some point, have to instigate disciplinary actions, but the chances of things getting to this stage are greatly reduced by following the guidance as shown here and when you have a compliant fleet, everyone benefits.
