The nature of fleet safety operations is changing with more drivers operating personally owned vehicles on company business. Liability exposures also exist for business travelers who operate rental vehicles. These types of vehicle operations represent the "hidden fleet."
The insurance companies define this exposure as "non-owned automobile" and corporations would obtain insurance policies for the liability associated with non-owned automobile operation. The majority of corporate fleet safety policies address fleet operational exposures related to drivers of company owned or leased vehicles. In my experience, I have found that corporate fleet policies do not include in-depth operational controls for personally owned vehicles used for company business and rental car drivers.
In order to establish strategic initiatives for the non-owned vehicle exposure, your organization needs to quantify the magnitude of the risk. Has your organization defined who is a routine driver? Who is accountable for managing fleet safety within an organization that has multiple business units? Who does driver screening? Will fleet safety be handled in centralized or decentralized manner? Can you identify high risk drivers? Have procedures been implemented to manage the high risk drivers? How do you manage fleet operations when you have global vehicle operations?
My presentation will provide the attendee with an increased understanding about nonowned automobile exposures, outline fleet program operational metrics that increase the effectiveness of the fleet programs ability to address the "hidden fleet". In addition, I will introduce the concepts of Motor Vehicle Risk Reduction Metrics that can be applied to vehicle operations within the United States or on a Global basis.
Key Learning Outcomes from this presentation include:
Increase understanding about non-owned automobile exposures
Provide attendee with fleet program evaluation ideas to enhance fleet policies to better address the "hidden fleet"
Identify roadblocks in identifying risks and establishing accountability
Introduction to risk reduction metrics for fleet safety
The issues presented by non-owned auto usage include: lack of control over vehicle selection or condition, selection of drivers, insurance coverage levels for personally owned vehicle used on company business or volunteer drivers, increased chances for being sued by third-party in the event of a crash, or a business traveler that rents vehicles.
Let's discuss ways that personally owned vehicles are used for business purposes. Situations occur in your organization where employees operate their personally owned vehicles; e.g., an employee goes to the post office to pick up mail or pick up food for meetings; clients are visited by employees in personally owned autos; and employees who travel between multiple sites for their employer or to an airport.
How do we know if the employee has insurance on the vehicle? Is the registration current for vehicle? What kind of driving record does the employee have? Do they know defensive driving principles? What is the condition of the vehicle? Is it suitable for job?
