The number of drivers that have had their driving licence revoked under the Road Traffic Act has increased by 33.5% according to new figures released by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). In addition to this the number of HGV and bus drivers that had their driving entitlement revoked or refused on medical grounds increased in 2018 by 9.2% to 12,242. With a reported shortage of around 50,000 commercial drivers in the UK commercial road transport operators simply can not afford to lose drivers due their licences being revoked. The risk of having drivers with penalty points on their licence needs to be managed so that corrective actions are taken with the drivers at most risk to minimise the potential threat of drivers being banned due to a totting up of points. Research conducted on behalf of the RAC a few years ago showed that 95% of employees would not tell their employer about any new penalty points, so how would an employer know and how can operators avoid employing a banned driver and suffering the potential consequences? The answer lies in having a robust and automated method of verifying drivers’ licences and CPC that is commensurate with the risk profile of a driver. It does not make any sense to treat a driver with a clean licence the same as a driver with 9 penalty points. With SmartLicence from Descartes, licences are automatically checked with the DVLA at a frequency determined by the risk profile of a driver. For example, a driver with 0 to 3 points would get checked every 6 months and with 9 points every month. The risk profile and frequency can be adjusted to suit your business. In additional SmartAlerts can be configured to send an automated email alert to any new points or significant changes to the licence to get around the problem of drivers not telling their employer about new points. On average SmartLicence costs around £10.50 per driver per year (assuming an average of 3 checks per drive per year) , which is a small investment in managing drivers and ensuring they are entitled to driver for you. Find out more or get a quote for your drivers.