Data from the DVLA revealed that over 80,000 driving licences have 9 points – only 3 points away from a ban from totting-up of points for new offences committed within the next 3 years. Around 2.7 million drivers in England, Scotland and Wales have 3 or more points on their licences. Over 10,000 drivers have 12 penalty points or more on their licences. Whilst that doesn’t mean automatic disqualification from driving and they may have already served a court sentence and reapplied for their licence. Professional drivers with 6 or more points are a potential risk to transport operators as they are more likely to reoffend and represent a threat to the business when operators are  struggling to recruit new drivers. With the well publicised driver shortage in the UK, transport operators need a quick and easy way of verifying licences with the DVLA. With Descartes’ SmartLicence, businesses have access to a comprehensive online tool to manage employee driving licences. You can conduct instant check on new drivers and once setup, everything happens in the background with the results and any alerts to issues that need immediate attention such as new points emailed to responsible manager. SmartLicence conducts licence checks with the DVLA in accordance with the risk profile of a driver. The greater the number of points the more frequent the licence checks. With solutions such as SmartLicence, employers can take a consistent and proactive approach to check the validity of drivers’ licences, identify those drivers at risk and manage them accordingly. Get a quote for your drivers.