The way fleet managers check both the validity and entitlements of driving licences has been evolving at an unprecedented rate this year.

The main development was the abolition of the paper counterpart to the photocard driving licence on June 8.

Since that date, the DVLA’s free Share Driving Licence (SDL) service has allowed drivers to create a unique one-time only reference code which enables them to share information online with their employer.

The employer has the option to download or print that information, if they require a permanent record.

Ultimately, the new service has been introduced by the Government to provide all the relevant information, such as penalty points and driver entitlements, that employers need digitally with a corresponding reduction in administration costs.

But what has been the impact of these changes on fleet managers?

When an online poll was conducted by Fleet News asking, “Is the DVLA licence checking service an adequate alternative to the paper counterpart?” in August, 51% of respondents said “yes” while 49% said “no”.

Jenny Powley, sales director of corporate business at RAC Business, believes that the “true benefits” of the new system may take time to manifest themselves for fleet managers.

“The move away from paper licences should have a positive effect on fleet managers, as they’ll be able to store all their drivers’ information in one place online while still maintaining the option to print and file the information in a more traditional way,” she says.

“Other bonuses of going paperless include the automatic updating of information such as points added, change of address or name changes, saving drivers both time and money posting forms.

“They can also negate any risk of drivers not sharing their latest driving licence information as well as preventing any potential of editing a scanned copy.

“This is especially useful for fleet managers responsible for drivers based offsite, as they won’t have to wait for any documents to arrive by post.”

Malcolm Maycock, chairman of the Association for Driving Licence Verification (ADLV) and director of Licence Bureau, a licence-checking company, adds: “What June 8 did was make some fleet managers aware of their current processes when it comes to checking driving licences – if they had one in place – as well as any failings that might be a part of those processes.

“My impression is that some fleets still didn’t have processes in place that could be audited.”

Main benefits and drawbacks

The new system enables fleet managers to quickly and confidentially verify a driver’s validity once they’ve been presented with the SDL code.

Richard Payne-Gill, deputy chairman of the ADLV, reiterates the point that the new system has also helped remove the risk of fraud.

“In the past, there has always been a risk that a duplicate counterpart could be presented which doesn’t reflect the latest DVLA record. This no longer applies, and that has to be applauded,” he says. “However, the SDL service, while an online tool, still requires reliance on a business’s manual back-office processes to ensure that the check is made and recorded for any future audit.

“Further, it is a transactional, or ‘one by one’, process that needs to be followed each time a check is required. 

“Businesses with relatively low numbers of drivers to check may prefer this free-to-use option, but other businesses recognise the indirect costs of managing driver checks transactionally and prefer automated systems that allow for regular scheduled checks with full management reporting and audit trail.”

Richard Brown, managing director of driver licence checking and monitoring service Licencecheck, also believes that the changes to the DVLA’s system has resulted in “a couple of useful developments”.

He explains: “The first is that the DVLA checks can be made in real-time rather than being an overnight process. 

“The benefit to the organisation is that, provided proper consent has been given, new drivers and existing drivers can be checked or re-checked and cleared to drive on company business in literally seconds.

“The second development relates to the granting of consent. 

“The DVLA has permitted certain third-party service providers to offer their customers the option of collecting driver consents electronically rather than requiring a  wet signature – subject to their formal approval of the proposed method. 

“This opens up the possibility of a paperless and virtually seamless licence checking service that at a stroke eliminates all the problems of distributing and collecting multiple pieces of paper from different drivers. 

“For larger fleets, this is a real boon.”

Payne-Gill adds that the change management process for those businesses that have previously relied on a policy of visual inspection of the paper counterpart, then recording of the check for future audit, is likely to be the biggest challenge. 

He says: “Now all fleets need to ensure that they have  the informed consent of their employees to check their  driver records. 

“For SDL, this requires the employee to log into View Driving Licence and then provide a licence check code for their employer to use to access their driver record online. This is a one-time permission that expires after 21 days.”

Case study: Ronnie Wilson, fleet manager at NG Bailey

How have your processes changed since the new driver licence checking system was introduced?

While we’ve used the new licence checking system on a few occasions, we’ve not changed our processes currently.

We still routinely check drivers’ licences electronically by going direct to the DVLA  – and that’s what we’ve been doing for the past  seven years.

Each of our 2,000 drivers signs a mandate saying that they’re happy for us to check their details, and  this lasts for three years. 

What benefits/drawbacks has it brought?

The new licence checking system is a very useful way of getting a driver who hasn’t signed the mandate behind the wheel quickly.

Although we’ve only used it around five times in the first three months after it was launched, it does bring benefits in terms of helping out in emergencies.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

In all honesty, we’ve found the new checking system is really straightforward and easy to use.

But you still require the driver’s permission – and code – before you can proceed.

Case study: Colin Marriott, general manager at fleet Centrica

How have your processes changed since the new driver licence checking system was introduced?

We’ve not made any changes to date which has much to do with the fact that, for a fleet the size of ours, it would be difficult to utilise the changes that have been made to the checking system to best effect.

For around seven years now, we’ve outsourced  our vehicle licence checking, which is currently with Inchcape, whose Grey Matters fleet health and safety compliance system ensures that all appropriate checks have been made.

What benefits/drawbacks has it brought?

For Centrica, the new system hasn’t really brought  any benefits or drawbacks.

In total, our fleet consists of 13,000 vans, 2,500 cars as well as 2,500 grey fleet and, consequently, I just don’t think that it would be appropriate to expect line managers to carry out individual checks on drivers.

I’d rather take the onus away from them and allow a professional fleet management company to carry out audit checks on our behalf.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

Once again, I can’t really think of any challenges.

But I do think that there might be potential for the DVLA – or another party – to introduce some kind  of system that enables fleets to carry out these licence  checks in bulk.

This would have the potential to allow the larger fleets to undertake these checks cost-effectively  for themselves.

Case study: Peter Bonney, fleet controller at the Salvation Army

How have your processes changed since the new driver licence checking system was introduced?

In all honesty, we’ve not changed our processes... yet.

We’re waiting to get a full and proper sense of how the new changes work. Once we’ve done this – and only at this point – we’ll introduce the best practices for us according to safety and cost.

Although no decision has been reached we might, in the first instance, pilot a licence checking scheme making each regional centre responsible for the commercial vehicles we use.

At the moment, we use a licence checking company for all our drivers.

If we discover that we can easily monitor licences internally, then we might look at evolving our processes.

But, first and foremost, we want to ensure that the licences are getting properly checked.

What benefits/drawbacks has it brought?

My initial response to this question is that these changes have potentially made it far easier for  organisations like ours to check licences by creating  a one-stop shop.

But whether this means that we no longer have  to use external agencies to check licences, I simply don’t know at this point in time.

For large organisations, it might make it a  logistical nightmare to coordinate checks before  codes have expired.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

Down the years, I have always noticed how difficult  it is to get drivers to change their habits and do things differently and I don’t suspect that it’ll prove different on this occasion.

It might prove tricky to get drivers to provide the code needed to view the licence, but we’ll just have  to wait and see.