ROGUE drivers who cost fleets too much money should be punished with financial penalties or temporary vehicle downgrades, according to Godfrey Davis (Contract Hire). The firm's drivers are charged £75 if a removable radio or mobile phone is stolen from their vehicle - and face the 'reverse incentive' of a car downgrade. Managing director John Lyons said: 'Temporarily downgrading drivers to lower specification cars is a good method of ramming the point home. Most drivers are very status conscious.'

However, BCH Vehicle Management operations director Roger Hopkins warned that it was often the best salespeople who posed the most problems and to penalise them could be a mistake for the company. 'You do not want to demotivate drivers,' he said.

Fleetlease managing director Rob Whalley said training, and not punishment, was the positive way to encourage problem drivers to improve their performance. He said: 'I would not want a representative of my company turning up at an appointment in a car which did not give the right image. All staff need constant training. If office staff do something wrong you do not punish them by making them work in a dark room for a week!'