DRIVER HIRING AND QUALIFICATION

Although some employees are full time drivers, for many insureds employees are hired for other than their diving experience. The operation of an owned vehicle may be incidental to the employee’s occupation and duties, but time spent on prequalifying the driving experience can reap big benefits and save your business time and money. Special requirements exist for drivers with Commercial Drivers License which are not covered in this section.

Analysis should be given to the following:

§ Motor Vehicle report – prior driving experience is often reflective of current driving habits. Consider requesting the new employee bring a copy of their MVR at the time of the interview.

§ Driving experience – not everyone gets a drivers license at 16 years of age. Any potential employee with less than 5 years driving experience is considered high risk for potential of loss.

§ Prior experience and reference checks should include inquiry into driving experience. Many prior accidents do not appear on the MVR

§ A road test is one of the ways to find out whether a driver can do the job expected of them. The test should be sufficiently long to cover a variety of situations.

Studies conducted on vehicle accidents have shown a direct correlation between past driving performance and accident experience. Review of the employee, or potential employees Motor Vehicle report should be analyzed to determine if the driver is eligible to drive a company vehicle, or to driver their personal vehicle on company business (see Non-Ownership Automobile section)

As a general guideline, the criteria may be used for those individuals with at least 5 years driving experience:

§ No violations of an extreme nature – Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, reckless driving or leaving the scene of an accident

§ No more than two moving violations or combination of moving violations and accidents

§ Any driver with a suspended license may not legally drive any vehicle