The hygiene and safety regulations imposed due to the Corona crisis will accompany us for quite some time. Also in the field of fleet management, it is now important to minimize the risk of contact and to ensure that important processes can be carried out quickly and efficiently from a distance. With our mobile driver's license check via smartphone app, the legally required routine checks of driver's licenses can be conducted regardless of location.

As part of the holder's responsibility, the regular inspection of driver's licenses is part of the legally prescribed duties of all fleet operators. Traditionally, drivers have to appear personally at the office of the control center every few months - logistics industry experts recommend a frequency of twice a year. However, what was already difficult to reconcile with ongoing tours and appointments in normal times is now neither desired nor advisable under the conditions of Corona-specific hygiene and safety rules.

Decentralized and anytime

With our smartphone app, the entire driver's license check issue can be organized without direct personal contact and carried out automatically and mobilely regardless of location. There is no need for drivers to personally appear at the company headquarters or the FM control center just for the usually completed driver's license check. With the help of the software, the control center can organize all processes and routines around the driver's license check in a decentralized manner and fulfill the obligation - currently of particular relevance - even from home office workplaces. Whether with or without the Corona-related keep-distance and non-contact rules: In daily practice, this means a significant process optimization that grants more flexibility to all drivers and FM responsibilities and frees fleet management from unnecessary downtime.

Overview of all inspection dates

Constant reminding and admonishing of drivers are eliminated, as well as the need for appointment scheduling. Cumbersome copying and filing work, catching up on "forgotten" checks, or tour cancellations due to exams are also a thing of the past. This topic gains additional significance due to the new fine catalog in effect in Germany since April of this year! Since the authorities now inspect more frequently and the threshold for the loss of the driving license has been significantly lowered, the driver's licenses of all fleet participants should always be up to date.

For the implementation of the "Mobile Driver's License Check," all driver's licenses receive a tamper-proof RFID tag with data on the driver's license and the driver. Every driver is then reminded in a timely manner of upcoming examination dates and can check their driver's license at any time from the provided control app on their smartphone (Android) while on the go. In principle, there is always the possibility that they can have their document read in a test station in a branch of their company - in times of Corona, surely the less frequented alternative. In both cases, operation is easy because after reading, everything else runs fully automated: both the driver's license check and the further processing and archiving of the data.

Crisis as an opportunity

For logistics companies that have not yet implemented a modern fleet management system for cross-border traffic, the issue of the legal obligation to check driver's licenses may provide the impetus to approach the topic. Apart from the already mentioned Corona-specific aspects, the fleet operator benefits from numerous other advantages solely by using the "Mobile Driver's License Check." For example, digitization and automation of processes not only saves a lot of manual work but also improves overall process and tamper-proofing security. And through the listing of inspection dates and the reminder function, the error rate in appointment management decreases.

All these factors not only make a significant contribution to the optimization of fleet management but also increase the legal certainty of the company. Because incomplete driver's license checks are not a trivial matter but can put any logistics and forwarding company in a predicament. The Road Traffic Act (StVG) leaves no doubt in § 21 that the regular inspection of driver's licenses of all drivers falls within the responsibility of the fleet operator. Primarily the managing directors and fleet managers should therefore pay great attention to the validity of the driving licenses. They are the ones whom the legislator holds liable in case of emergency.