Professional Services > Grey fleet and employer responsibilities

Grey fleet and employer responsibilities

The number of companies relying solely on their own fleet of vehicles to provide mobility for their employees has been declining for several years. Conversely, the number of employees using their own vehicles for business purposes has increased significantly. It’s those employee-owned vehicles used for business purposes that are termed grey fleet vehicles.

Though grey fleet vehicles are not company-owned or leased, the employer is still legally responsible for the use of such vehicles whilst out on company business. More specifically:

  • Employers need to apply Health & Safety Executive (HSE) work-related road safety guidance to both their own fleet and their grey fleet, see here
  • Employers must fulfil their obligations under the police-ad-ministered Road Traffic Act (RTA) and Road Vehicles (Con-struction and Use) regulations
  • Employers also have duties imposed on them by the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA)

To assist with this, we have summarised the following 12 key management responsibilities:

  • A nominated person has specific responsibility for grey fleet management
  • Drivers are formally authorised to drive their own vehicles on company business
  • The grey fleet vehicle is correctly insured for the type of busi-ness use to which it is put
  • The vehicle is roadworthy – particularly given the average age of a grey vehicle tends to be higher than a company-owned or leased vehicle
  • The driver holds the correct driving licence and any convictions are disclosed
  • A driver is fit to drive and meets legal eyesight requirements
  • Drivers are fully aware of the company’s stance towards drug and alcohol use and abuse
  • Every driver is issued with an appropriate ‘driving for work’ handbook
  • Drivers are competent from a driving style, behaviour and road risk awareness perspective
  • Drivers identified as being potentially at risk receive appropriate training
  • Drivers that may have been off the road for quite some time are equipped to get safely back behind the wheel
  • Driving style and behaviour is monitored
  • Beware of investigation and potential prosecution

Putting in place appropriate processes and procedures such as those outlined above can be a time-consuming process. It may be for that reason that some firms may fall short of meeting their obligations.The good news is turnkey grey fleet management solutions are available to firms looking for a ready-made, easy to use answer to the challenge of meeting their obligations under legislation and relevant best practice. From an IT solution perspective, sitting behind a user-friendly front-end, the system will typically include automated access to appropriate government databases.

Available solutions also include driver profiling software that enables each driver to personally assess their road safety awareness. Assessments can dynamically offer drivers online modules that should help address specific development needs identified during the evaluation. In-car training is also available.

Safedrive is a forward-thinking Risk Management and Driver Training company based in the UK offering a variety of Training, Assessment and Risk Management services for commercial clients and their drivers.
Towergate Insurance Brokers is a trading name of Advisory Insurance Brokers Limited.
Registered in England No.4043759. Registered Address: 2 Minster Court, Mincing Lane, London, EC3R 7PD.Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

To find out more about how Towergate’s Safedrive business can help take the pain out of managing your grey fleet exposure, talk to our Northampton Office on 01604 887300 or email northampton@towergate.co.uk.