Fleet software and management company FleetCheck has released three guides aimed at improving corporate vehicle compliance and to help fleets gain expertise in key areas.
Called ‘Grey Fleets: Hidden and Unmonitored’, ‘What is Fleet Management?’ and ‘Legal Compliance and Risk Management’, the guides are available to download for free from the company’s website.
The firm’s managing director Peter Golding said the guides have been written in response to questions that fleets have asked him, with the grey fleet and risk management booklets in particular being inspired by customer queries.
He added that FleetCheck regularly produces guides and that a “small library” of guidance is now available on the website for fleet managers to read for free.
Golding said that providing information is part of his company’s service to the fleet sector, with the papers claiming to provide unbiased, practical and easy-to-understand advice.
Earlier this year, FleetCheck warned businesses that they should not assume that lease vehicles with maintenance packages are being maintained.
According to the firm, there is a “circle of assumption”, with employers assuming the driver and leasing company are carrying out repairs, drivers believing it is the responsibility of the leasing company, and the leasing company thinking the issue is being taken care of by employers and drivers.
Ultimately, it is incumbent on all three parties to communicate with each other about servicing issues.
Golding said the problem is particular prevalent among SMEs, and that managers who do not put systems in place to ensure vehicles are properly looked after could face prosecution.
“If a serious accident occurs and an improperly maintained vehicle is part of the reason that it happened, then the owners and directors of the business will be at fault and could be given a custodial sentence,” the firm’s managing director added.