Driving for work is more difficult than people believe. A lot can go wrong in various ways, which can ultimately impact safety and job security too. So, it pays to be prepared whether you’re using your car for occasional work purposes, or the company is supplying a vehicle to use. Here is what you need to know when driving for work.
Be Properly Insured or You Won’t Be Covered
Using your car for personal use is one thing, but taking it out on the road on a business trip to visit a distant client is something else entirely. The distinction may seem like a subtle one to you, but if you’re using a personal vehicle partly for business use, the insurer needs to know.
When you only have a personal insurance policy for an automobile, there’s a strong likelihood that an accident won’t be covered for business trips. Furthermore, there’s a potential risk that you could be considered uninsured at the time of the accident too. And that’s a road you don’t want to go down.
Discussing commercial vehicle insurance with an insurer is important. Clarifying that the vehicle is used for personal and business use allows them to confirm the right coverage and provide a policy to match that. When doing so, there will be no confusion should a claim need to be made in the future.
Keep a Clean Driving Record
Diligent employers and those that work with drivers temporarily will usually keep a watchful eye on their driving record.
Driver Monitoring is Becoming More Commonplace
It’s increasingly likely that companies will want to install dashcams and other recording devices to monitor what their drivers are doing. Going beyond stickers on their vehicles inviting members of the public to report driving infractions, dashcams are intended to spot dangerous driving sooner to prevent a future accident on company time.
Companies like Amazon and others are actively seeking to monitor driver performance, including their safety record. So, drivers must expect this to eventually impact them whether they’re delivering packages or driving to meet a client.
Checking Up on the Driving Record
The driving record of people who drive for work remains important. Depending on the type of driving required, a background history check is typical with new job applicants. The number of moving violations is particularly important. These cover several different types of incidents but include driving under the influence, exceeding the speed limit, not stopping for pedestrians wishing to cross the road, and being distracted due to texting or using the phone while driving.
Take Care with Medications
Some medications have the side effect of making you feel drowsy. This isn’t always obvious right away until you become so drowsy that you’re almost falling asleep. If you’re driving at the time, it can have dangerous implications for you, any passengers, other drivers, and pedestrians too.
Check the side effects of popular medications before taking them. This includes over-the-counter medications too. Don’t get caught out by becoming drowsy and needing to pull over to clear your head.
Plan Your Driving Routes and Times
Not planning for the best driving route to your destination, including getting updates on upcoming traffic congestion, can create knock-on problems. While a courier will likely be supplied with routing apps, driving for work less frequently as the job requires it leads to more ad hoc arrangements.
Ensure that you have good routing apps installed on your smartphone to guide you. Get local road updates to allow you to make last-minute routing changes too. Doing this will help you to arrive on time. Also, when failing to plan, it encourages you to exceed the speed limit to get to your destination sooner. This increases the chances of getting into an accident and incurring a speeding fine too.
Avoid Reacting to Other Drivers
Some people are poor drivers while others are aggressive on the road. Avoid reacting to the behavior of other drivers because it won’t improve the situation. Always keep calm to avoid the actions of other people from impacting your driving behavior too. You’ll be happier driving as part of your workday and it won’t feel like a chore that way either.
Whether you’re driving on the road all day or taking daily short trips to meet clients, it pays to follow the above suggestions. These will help to avoid an incident that could affect the safety or the longevity of your employment.