TECHNOLOGY can do a number of things in business. It can make a fleet manager's life simpler, more efficient and less cluttered. It can save the company money and it can generate big profits if applied in the right areas.

But perhaps more importantly, fleet technology can help to save lives and keep people out of jail when duty-of-care legislation starts to bite.

A number of firms have software that can aid fleet managers when it comes to tracking drivers and their cars and the status of driving licences, driver training or risk management assessments.

Checking licences for even medium-sized fleets is a laborious and time-intensive activity that doesn't always have priority and RAC Software Solutions has posed the question: how many fleet managers can honestly admit or prove that each company car driver's licence has recently been checked for endorsements or even disqualifications?

According to the firm, a typical software package should include date reminders or memo facilities, which can be set against each driver to prompt for regular licence checks.

It should also be able to hold dates and details of driver training courses attended against each driver record along with the class of vehicle licence.

This provides an auditable trail at the touch of a button should it ever be needed.

Lucy Caudle, marketing manager of RAC Software Solutions said: 'These are key features of our entry-level fleet software and ones that are used extensively by our customers.

'Our memo facility is particularly useful as reminders can be set against a driver, a vehicle or even an accident record. The memo contains a free-text field to cover every eventuality for example licence checks, booking a training course or tyre condition checks.'

But there are other features that can be incorporated to improve your duty of care still further. Cfc Solutions has a corporate liability module which has a driver competency rule that can be set up against each driver's job grade and measured against various conditions.

For example, if a driver is under 21, has more than five points on his licence, and has had two or more accidents in the last three years then the Corporate Liability Module will issue a report advising the fleet manager to bar him from driving a company car, restrict him to certain vehicle types, or provide additional training.

Cfc managing director Jason Francis explained: 'We began development of this product when it because clear that the Health and Safety Executive were serious about tackling work related driving issues. The final product is, we believe unique in the fleet sector. It provides the means for fleet managers to meet all their obligations while minimising additional work.'

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