Fleets are increasingly turning to regular electronic checks of drivers’ licences as part of a best practice approach to reducing risk.

There has been an increase in the volume and frequency of online driving licence data checking by UK fleets

That’s the verdict from the Association for Driving Licence Verification (ADLV) as it reports a significant rise in the volume and frequency of online driving licence data checking by UK fleets.

Recent Freedom of Information figures seen by the ADLV show that there was a 30.4% increase in checks by online intermediaries in the year to end of March 2016 compared to the same period the previous year.

The ADLV added that it expects this growth to continue throughout 2016 and well into 2017, with the total number of checks rising from the current level of 2.35 million to a projected 3 million by March 2017.

Richard Payne Gill, deputy chair of the ADLV, commented: “The growth in volume is highly encouraging as it reflects that electronic checking, through a fully managed service from a professional third party, has now become a ‘best practice’ with full reporting and audit trails included. It is also a sign that the frequency of checking has increased too as fleet managers seek to both boost compliance certainty and reduce the risk from misuse and fraud.  We are seeing quarterly checks becoming the norm.

“There has also been a rise in the breadth of data now that is now being combined with licence information, and we are also confident that other datasets are likely to become available too including Tacho and CPC data for the UK Haulier sector. The integration of all this data will see a transformation on the overall professionalism of the sector with the ultimate benefits including major efficiency gains for Fleet operators and a marked boost for road safety.”