Drivers who take a cash option instead of a company car from their employer are often not being considered with the same level of thoroughness as company car drivers when it comes to risk management, says Arval.
Cash takers can potentially fall off the radar when it comes to safety, even though there are frequently high mileage and other increased risk groups among their number, said Shaun Sadlier, Head of Consultancy at the leasing and fleet management specialist.
He said, “Anyone who is using a vehicle on business is their employer’s responsibility when it comes to duty of care, no matter whether they drive a company car or provide their own.
“However, we frequently see instances where fleets do little or nothing to monitor even the risk management basics when it comes to cash takers. This could result in omissions as fundamental as having no regular licence checking or walkaround vehicle inspection processes in place.”
Shaun said part of the issue was that there was often an assumption within fleets that cash taker drivers were low mileage and therefore tended to be a low risk.
“In general, the average cash taker does cover fewer miles than core fleet counterparts but this does not mean that all of them do. It is not unusual to come across a 25,000 mile a year cash taker driver or one who has up to 6-9 points on their licence.