Tracking your company cars means taking steps to understand exactly where every car in your fleet is at any given time. In this way, you can gain insights into your drivers’ mileage, fuel use, and other factors that could help you improve the overall efficiency of your fleet.
In this post we’ll explore the benefits of tracking your company cars, before discussing how you can implement a tracking system while respecting your employees’ privacy and avoiding any potential legal issues.
For more information on how we can help you and your fleet, get in touch with us on 020 8290 9099 or email us at commercial.motor@anthonyjones.com.
Benefits of Tracking Company Cars
If you track your company cars, over time you’ll build up a picture of exactly how your fleet operates. You’ll learn about each driver’s average mileage, their fuel use, and other aspects of their driving habits. This can help you optimise your routes and rotas, and it could also help you save money through developing a comprehensive fuel management policy.
Tracking your company cars can also contribute to your drivers’ safety and security. If a vehicle’s ever stolen, your tracking system could help the police locate it. And if a driver’s ever travelling to an unfamiliar location, you’ll be able to keep tabs on their whereabouts, and you’ll be able to send assistance in the event of a breakdown or another incident.
If your tracking involves CCTV cameras, then you’ll have clear video evidence of any incidents that may occur on the road. This can help to streamline any claims you make on your commercial vehicle insurance policy.
How To Track Your Company Cars
You have a range of options for tracking your company cars:
- Smartphone apps – These are cheap and easy to implement, but their effectiveness relies on your employees remembering to activate the apps, and on their smartphone battery life. Plus, such apps will only give you a broad overview of your cars’ locations. You may not get the sort of insights that could really make a difference to your fleet’s performance.
- GPS Systems – Some GPS systems are simple devices you can fit yourself. Others are more elaborate, meaning you’ll need a specialist to install them.
- Full telemetric systems – These will use a range of devices, including GPS systems, sensors, and even cameras, to give you an extremely detailed overview of every company car in your fleet. Though such systems can cost a lot, they could ultimately help you make significant savings on fuel costs and other expenses. Some systems can even send automated maintenance alerts, so you can stay on top of servicing and ensure that every vehicle in your fleet is performing at its best.
Privacy and Legal Concerns When Tracking Your Company
Before you start tracking your company cars, it’s important to consider the law. The specific legislation that applies here includes the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR) and the Human Rights Act 1998.
The implications of these laws, regarding tracking company cars include:
- You cannot track your employees’ movements without their explicit consent. Plus, all employees have a legal right to know exactly what information you are collecting, and how you are using it.
- Everyone has the right to a private family life. This means that you cannot use your tracking systems to check up on your employees. You can only track vehicles during business hours. It’s illegal to track your employees outside of business hours. This may affect your tracking strategy if employees use their own cars as part of a grey fleet system, or if you let them drive company vehicles for personal use.
- You must have a secure system for storing any data you collect, and you must not retain this data for longer than necessary. As a result, you should have a policy for determining when data is no longer needed, along with a procedure for clearing old data.
How To Stay Compliant When Tracking Your Company Cars
First, you need to tell your employees exactly why you want to track their cars, and what you want to achieve by doing so. Make it clear that this is all about improving operational efficiency, and that it’s not a system for keeping tabs on individual drivers.
Remember that you’ll need explicit consent from your employees before you start tracking them. You could include this in your company car contracts, which every employee must sign before they start driving their company cars. But don’t hide the tracking information in the contract. Employees should understand exactly what they’re agreeing to.
You should also create a dedicated company car tracking policy. This should outline:
- What tracking systems you’ll use, and the data you’ll be collecting.
- When you’ll track vehicles. i.e. It should specify both business hours and business usage, while making it clear exactly when the tracking will stop.
- How you’ll store the data, and how you’ll clear any data that you no longer need.
- Procedures for employees to opt out of the tracking system, if they have a legitimate reason to do so.
Vehicle Tracking Can Help You Make A Saving On Your Insurance
Steve Blackmore, Director at Anthony Jones says:
“There’s another major benefit to tracking your vehicles in your fleet. It provides strong evidence that you’re taking steps to manage risks in your fleet, and that you take your drivers’ health and safety seriously. If you can share this information with your insurers, it could help you make savings on the cost of cover.
“At Anthony Jones, we can show you how to evidence your risk management procedures to insurers, which could lead to lower premiums. We can also advise you on how you can stay compliant with all applicable regulations when it comes to tracking your company cars.”
For more information on how we can help you and your fleet, get in touch with us on 020 8290 9099 or email us at commercial.motor@anthonyjones.com.