It’s estimated that 14 million grey fleet vehicles use UK roads. An effective grey fleet management gives your employees the freedom to use their own cars for business. It can significantly reduce your operating costs if your drivers only make a handful of monthly trips. However, as a fleet manager, you’re responsible for safety and fleet vehicle compliance for company cars and user-owned vehicles. And that’s why it’s essential to run a grey fleet audit.
Grey fleet duty of care
It’s a misconception that running a grey fleet means your organisation isn’t liable for privately owned vehicles. The truth is you have the same responsibilities for driver and public safety across your entire fleet. So you need to manage any hazards and risks in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act.
Your duty of care means grey fleet drivers should:
- Have the correct driver’s licence for their vehicle.
- Maintain their vehicle with regular servicing and hold a valid MOT.
- Be insured for business travel.
- Drive safely and within legal requirements.
The same standards for competence, legality and eligibility apply to company car and grey fleet drivers. And the best way to ensure fleet vehicle compliance is with a grey fleet audit.
Conducting a grey fleet audit
Understanding the makeup of your grey fleet is essential to develop efficient management strategies. It may be time-consuming. But an audit is an intelligent way to enable accurate reporting and create a robust grey fleet policy. In addition, it should flag up any Health & Safety issues so you can deal with them quickly.
Benchmark your fleet
Start by benchmarking your fleet against others in your industry. Knowing the size and age of your grey fleet can help you establish basic safety standards. These could include:
- Vehicle age and safety features
- Maximum acceptable emissions level
Driving licence and document checks
Your duty of care as a fleet manager means you are legally responsible for conducting full driving licence and document checks for fleet vehicle compliance. Therefore, your grey fleet audit should look at the following:
- Higher-risk drivers, e.g. with 9+ points on their licence
- Adequate insurance levels for business use, depending on your business
Regular document checks give you a complete overview of drivers and their vehicles. In turn, this helps you assess and mitigate driver risk and fitness to drive, for example, by increasing the regularity of checks on high-risk drivers.
Take a look at our article on how often you should check your employees’ licences.
Grey fleet vehicles must also undergo simple daily checks and a more detailed weekly review for fleet vehicle compliance.
Grey fleet action points
A grey fleet audit can help you ensure your duty of care obligations are being met. As a result, you can develop a grey fleet safety policy that is clear and easy to communicate. In addition, you’ll be providing reportable and actionable evidence of driver training, risk mitigation and vehicle safety and maintenance.
Communicating your policies across the business will ensure fleet managers and employees understand their responsibilities. In turn, your business will be in the best position to fulfil your duty of care in the most effective way.
Grey Fleet Management with DriverCheck
Recognise you need a grey fleet audit but need to know where to start? With grey fleet management from DriverCheck, you can ensure your employees’ vehicles meet all legal requirements. To find out more about our transparent pricing and professional service, contact DriverCheck today.
Learn more about us and see our testimonials.