Business Drivers and Penalty Points: Fleet Training Could Help

We would expect business drivers – i.e., those whose jobs consist primarily of driving – to be among the least penalised on the road due to their extensive experience and obvious need to know better. While that may or may not be true, research shows a troubling trend: some 39% of all business drivers have received penalty points while working. The research, conducted by Masternaut, also demonstrates that fleet training may help alleviate the problem somewhat.

Masternaut says that nearly one in every four business drivers has admitted to receiving penalty points while at work. Some 62% of them went on to say that those penalty points were a direct result of speeding. That is not good, given the fact that speed in such a crucial factor in most road accidents. Speed injures and kills unlike any other contributing factor in crashes.

Research participants indicated additional reasons for receiving penalty points as follows:

• Driving without reasonable consideration for others – 15%
• Driving without due care or diligence – 14%
• Failure to obey a traffic light, or similar offence – 14%
• Dangerous driving – 10%.

These numbers may be fascinating or disappointing depending on how you view them. But there are two additional numbers from the research that we believe are even more important:

• 50% of the survey respondents said that company training would make them better and safer drivers
• 70% of survey respondents said they receive no training from their employers.

These two numbers ought to be a wake-up call to any company with regular business drivers. The truth is your drivers are virtually begging for fleet training, training that would reduce accidents, save you money on your insurance, improve your bottom line and, above all, decrease the risk of injuries or deaths due to accidents. Why would you not want better-trained drivers operating your company vehicles?

We Train Business Drivers

We are proud to say that the HGV Training Centre is one of the largest and most respected providers of fleet training in the UK. We train business drivers to be the best they can be on the behalf of their employers. Best of all, we can customise training programmes to meet the unique needs of your business and drivers.

The HGV Training Centre is also an approved provider of Driver CPC training. That means a fleet training programme designed and implemented by us can have a dual benefit. Not only will it make your drivers safer and more proficient, but it will also help them fulfil the mandate of 35 hours of CPC training every five years.

If your company is not offering fleet training to your business drivers, we encourage you to rethink your current strategy. We can help you design a high-quality training programme that is convenient, cost-effective, and able to make your drivers as safe as they can be. Your drivers want fleet training, so why not provide it? You have very little to lose and a lot to gain.

Sources:

Fleet News UK – https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2015/10/29/four-out-of-ten-business-drivers-received-penalty-points-when-driving-at-work