Vehicles driven by owner-operators working as part of the gig economy need to be brought into line with mainstream fleet standards, says FleetCheck.
The fleet management specialist says that these cars and drivers are really just another element of grey fleet management and should be treated in exactly the same way.
Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck, said, “I dare say we have all had a parcel or hot food delivered to our home or office, looked at the vehicle that was being used, and strongly suspected that it would not meet even the most basic fleet standards – and more often than not you discover they started early and will be driving to late in the evening.
“Yet legally, these are grey fleet vehicles to which normal grey fleet safety principles should apply, surrounding everything from maintenance to driver competence, as well as non-legislative corporate principles such as environmental considerations and more.”
Peter said that the standards applied by companies operating in the gig economy appeared to vary widely.