Let’s say one of your employees gets into an accident while driving for company business and causes bodily injury that results in a lawsuit — and suppose your driver had multiple traffic violations — and you had no idea about his or her driving history. In a worst-case scenario, you might well be facing a catastrophic loss!
Because time is money, it’s tempting to get your employees behind the wheel and on the road to start making money. However, it’s far better to manage this risk proactively by getting updated Motor Vehicle Reports (MVRs) on every employee who drives regularly during working hours. We’d recommend that you:
- Make providing an MVR a condition of employment for any potential hire who might be driving on company time and check their record before hiring them.
- Set your standards for acceptability.
- Have the employee sign an MVR consent form.
It makes sense to check your drivers’ MVRs on a regular basis. For example, one company has all drivers order their records from the state every six months and give them to their managers for review (the company reimburses them for the expense). This practice encourages drivers to take an active role in thinking about their safety record — much like a report card. As with any type of risk management, employee activity works better than passivity.
Our agency would be happy to help you implement a comprehensive MVR review program.
This is one case when a few ounces of prevention can be worth a ton (or more) of cure.
