The addition of a new ‘rules engine’ to Mycompanyfleet’s Driver Self-Serve solution is in response to requests from fleet and HR managers to have more automation in keeping a check on their grey fleet drivers and employees who work from home or remotely from the office.
With the addition of the new functionality, fleet and HR managers can now set parameters, such as job title, miles driven, number of penalty points on driving licence and type of vehicle, to send automatic email and text alerts to drivers telling them they need to take some form of action to update their records.
This could be to confirm the number of miles they have driven, or the number of penalty points on their licence or that their vehicle has been serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s warranty, thus providing a clear and identifiable audit trail.
This not only complies with duty of care requirements but also identifies any drivers who have not followed company procedures and allows warnings to be sent of the consequences of non-compliance.
Mycompanyfleet business executive Luke Hicks explained the thinking behind the new functionality.
“In the case of remote workers such as field sales employees, they rarely come into the office, and managers often find it difficult to get updates and information from them regarding their vehicles, their servicing, the number of miles they have driven or the number of penalty points they have on their licences.
“The new rules engine is basically a soft set of rules that allow fleet, HR or other line managers to set the parameters by which email and text alerts to employees are triggered. This can also be on a time basis, such as every three or six months. Employees are then required to log-in and update their records with the requested information.
“If employees do not comply with management requests then warnings of the possible consequences, such as mileage claims not being paid or, ultimately, disciplinary action, can be sent. This also ensures companies are meeting duty of care requirements and have an audit trail to prove it if necessary,” he said.
Mycompanyfleet launched its Driver Self-Serve grey fleet solution late last year to address the duty of care issues around vehicle condition, mileages driven and driver licence checking involving grey fleet vehicles and their drivers.
And in the last 12 months, the company has sought to refine the offering to fleet customers so that they can now derive maximum benefit from utilising it.
For example, Driver Self-Serve is now capable of tackling issues such as carbon emission reduction thanks to its ability to generate full ‘grey fleet’ CO2 reports, allowing organisations to see exactly how many grams of carbon dioxide are produced by the grey fleet on average per mile.
The system even identifies which grey fleet vehicles, drivers and even manufacturers are least efficient in this respect, so that fleet managers can take action having identified the culprits or can steer drivers towards less polluting makes and models.
And the system now includes an alternative travel module which provides users with details of different forms of transport for their planned journey, including taking the train, flying or using the bus, and allows comparisons between them and the cost of using a car.