The impact of Coronavirus will create a very different environment for fleet compliance, according to Licence Bureau, with a long-term effect on fleet policies, procedures and practices.
The All Change Tracker report from Department for Transport (DfT) suggested low levels of interest for previous commuting routines and a desire to work from home for the long-term.
As we previously shared, separate research from the Capgemini Research Institute, showed people will continue to avoid public and shared transport in a post-pandemic world, potentially increasing grey fleet use and impacting the wider mobility market.
Steve Pinchen, sales director of Licence Bureau, said: “Without doubt, these past 12 months will have a significant long-term impact on business driving across policies, procedures and practices.”
Licence Bureau posits that a change in working life could possibly also mean serious implications for any business around risk management and duty of care obligations. They are also concerned around something called ‘cause or permit to drive’ legislation.
This legislation means that penalties can be duplicated for fleet managers should employers request employees to visit the office – which in many cases may no longer be deemed as their ‘place of work’.
According to the Road Traffic Act 1988/1991, ownership of a vehicle involved in an offence is irrelevant. This therefore implicates both owned business fleet and grey fleet operators.
The Act also cites that causing or permitting driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence can incur three to six points with fine up to £1,000.
Licence Bureau reported that motorists still accrued 1.5 million points during the first half of 2020 despite ‘stay at home’ orders over the past 12 months which saw up to an 80% reduction in traffic volumes
Licence checking volumes also rose significantly, with the company undertaking 200,000 checks in a quarter for the first time.
