Why You MUST Have a Company Vehicle Policy
Do you have a policy regarding your company vehicles? I want to share what happened at our recent meeting, regarding company vehicles.
Last Saturday, I was driving down one of our busy roads and saw one of my vehicles was going the other way.
Well, the funny part was, we weren’t working last Saturday, and our company policy states that we don’t bring the trucks back to the shop every day.
I know some people have their trucks left at the shop, the employees go to the shop, punch in, take the vehicle, and they meet their crew or their crew goes with them.
We don’t use our shop that way; our crew leaders are allowed to drive the vehicles home.
But it also states that these vehicles are for work only, and in our meeting, I brought that up, I realized who it was because I saw there was a certain vehicle this guy drives, and I said, “I am bringing this up because I saw the vehicle on Saturday”
He explained that his wife had the car, she was gone for the day, he needed something at Home Depot and he just ran down and picked it up.
Download Your FREE Checklist...
11 Interview Questions For Hiring All-Stars, E-mailed to you NOW!
But what happens if something happens with that vehicle?
What happens if there is an accident?
Whose business is on the line for this?
It’s yours.
If that truck gets in an accident, on a quick little run to Home Depot on a Saturday afternoon, or going to church on Sunday morning, it’s going to interrupt the pay for multiple people the next day, or for multiple days until we can replace that vehicle.
And all in all, who’s going to end up paying for it?
You can say the employee has to pay for it but does the employee have the money to pay for it?
In the end, it is coming out of your pocket.
So, we like to state in our employee policy regarding company-owned vehicles that they go from point A to point B.
I realize if they have to go to the market on their way home, they might stop at the market, grab something for dinner, and I am okay with that.
But you have to remind them, especially if they are doing side jobs –these vehicles should not go to a side job.
It is better to be proactive, take a lighthearted approach, explain to them why this is such an important policy.
There is also the wear and tear, we don’t always think about it, but if employees are running around with this, it has just added wear and tear, added miles and all in all, it comes out of your pocket.
So if you explain that to them, and they don’t agree with it, maybe they are not the right one who should be driving that vehicle.
I hope this will put a little thought in your mind today, regarding company policy, on vehicles.
If you don’t have one, you should definitely put one together.
Email me, we can get you one put together
I am Ron Ramsden and you can find me at ron@dybcoach.com
Download Your FREE Checklist...
11 Interview Questions For Hiring All-Stars.
E-mailed To You NOW!