Vehicle Management - What You Must Know!What does vehicle management mean? Simply the term vehicle management refers to any vehicles that are used for the purposes of running a company or business. Thereby the term pertains to cars on a dealer's lot or showroom, a fleet of taxicabs, a company van that's used to make deliveries, trucks moving goods, government vehicles, rental cars, a warehouse ATV or forklift. No matter the size of the company, the number of employees with access to the vehicles, or the type of vehicles, at its most basic, vehicle management is all about getting and keeping your vehicles legal and on the road. It also means the company's legal liability for any driver of the vehicles. First, we will discuss the legal variables that can get pretty involved ranging from vehicle weight to states of travel, various types of licensing, permits, plus multiple sets of requirements per state. …. Fuel Tax Reporting that is mandated under the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), International Registration Plan (IRP), Unified Carrier Registration (UCR), and other state tax regulations. Be aware that IFTA auditors can scrutinize up to four years of your records and are authorized to charge up to 48% in interest plus penalties. Licensing & Permitting necessitates that key regulatory and compliance issues be addressed. Depending on your business the following information on temporary permits may or may not pertain to you:.. Temporary Permits · Trip Permits - When traveling to a state in which a vehicle is not registered under IRP, a temporary trip permit is needed for that state. · Fuel Permits - When traveling to a state in which a vehicle does not hold an IFTA decal and license, a temporary fuel permit is needed before entering that state. · Over Dimensional and Over Weight Permits - If a vehicle is over dimensional (oversize) or overweight, a temporary permit is needed. This permit authorizes movement according to vehicle configurations and weight and contains routing information, travel regulations/restrictions, and safety requirements. · Mileage Permits - When operating in Arizona, Kentucky or New York, a vehicle may require a mileage permit in addition to fuel and trip permits Title & Registration An untitled, unregistered vehicle translates to lost revenue, lost driving hours, missed customer shipments, or much worse. Here are the four areas where you need to maintain compliance with vehicle title and registration requirements: New truck purchases -Acquisitions, re-finances or changes in lien holder Duplicate title, and Title Search if you're not sure which state a specific vehicle is titled in. Vehicle and driver Liability Vehicle accidents are the #1 cause of workplace fatalities. Most vehicle mishaps are due to driver error. Accidents that are not driver error are usually due to mechanical/maintenance failures or road conditions Therefore, statutory liability is that vehicle owners are liable for damages caused by any permissive user. For this reason, besides carrying the right insurance, it behooves the owner to make use of the Employer Pull Notice (EPN) program, which "Allows your organization to monitor DL records of employees who drive on your organization's behalf." This allows a company to determine if each driver has a valid DL, reveals problem drivers and helps minimize liability." The other area of liability is failure to maintain. This includes failure to conduct inspections that would prevent operation of vehicle with known defects. Besides the businesses vehicle maintenance measures, to help defend against negligence claims, relevant vehicle and equipment records, and warranties need to be maintained. Keep in mind, since civil liability is limitless, a company needs to diligently keep in effect all programs to protect both itself, and any driver permitted to drive its vehicles. A plan of vehicle management is a must for any company. |