Back in mid-2016, the DVSA announced plans to launch their earned recognition scheme in early 2017. Now it is early 2017, and you need to make sure you’re on track to achieve earned recognition status.
What is the DVSA earned recognition scheme?
The earned recognition scheme, is an initiative from the DVSA, whereby drivers and operators can opt to achieve Earned Recognition status, by sharing tachograph and maintenance data with the agency.
How will the DVSA earned recognition scheme affect drivers and operators?
The scheme promises to “minimise disruption to the most compliant”, whilst clamping down on the “seriously and serially noncompliant”, according to DVSA CEO Gareth Llewellyn, in his introduction to the DVSA 2016 to 2017 Business Plan.
Keepmeontheroad.com have called the scheme an “intelligent sliding scale of audit levels” – in order to earn recognition, drivers and operators will be audited regularly, as well as sharing all their compliance documents with the DVSA.
This should save resources as, compliant operators and drivers will be moved away from roadside checks, to towards a remote auditing of documentation, leading to the most frequently and seriously non-compliant drivers and operators being intelligently stopped and investigated at checkpoints.
Currently, the key criteria for eligibility for earned recognition, are having held an O-licence for a minimum of two years, as well as having a good compliance history. According to commercialmotor.com, the criteria may be expanded to include a test pass-rate of 95%+ annually, KPIs on drivers’ hours, and two years clear of regulatory action.
How can stream’s driver daily walkaround checks app help you?
The DVSA have been notoriously vague on the exact steps required to achieve earned recognition status – but they have been clear that the achieving and maintaining the earned recognition will rely on the accurate capturing and sharing of compliance data for remote auditing, which will, by necessity, involve the use of technology.
How often do your drivers fully check their vehicles before departing?
It can be hard to tell with paper records. Even without the requirement to share data electronically, eliminating paper records in favour of digital ones saves resources (from printing to filing and storing) and removes the risk of loss or damage to the documents.
The STREAM Driver Daily Walkaround App is fully compliant with the DVSA’s Heavy goods vehicles (HGV): driver’s daily walkaround check.
How does the stream’s driver daily walk around app work?
The app can be set up to include additional checks on top of the 21 standard ones required by the DVSA – if you’d like your drivers to always double check the load, or to make sure they’re wearing the appropriate PPE, for example.
You can add in basic details about each vehicle – the registration details, type of vehicle, the age of the vehicle, etc..
The STREAM Walkaround Driver App can then be configured to send you notifications, for example when a driver departs for a run without completing the check, when there is an issue reported in the check, and even when the vehicle’s MOT is due.
All the driver has to do before they set off for a run, is to open the app and check each area of the vehicle, ticking it off on the app’s checklist as they go.
If the check is fine and dandy, they’ll just press the green tick and move along.
If the check uncovers an issue, they mark it with a red cross and are prompted to make a note of the exact issue, and to record which person they reported the issue to – so it isn’t just ‘issue with spray suppression’ it is ‘small crack on right rear spray suppression at 07:35, reported to Bob’.
The walkaround checks are time- and date- stamped, to eliminate disputes over the authenticity of data – drivers can’t rush through a weeks’ worth of checks on Friday afternoon before they hand the papers over to the office.
The data from each check (the time and date, the results and details of any issues) is automatically uploaded to secure, cloud-based storage as soon as the driver’s mobile device has an internet connection.
This means that you and your back office staff can access the information any time they need to (and can call the driver to remind them to do their check, if they haven’t completed it by a certain time), via the vehicle management feature.
The DVSA earned recognition scheme and the stream driver daily walkaround app
The STREAM driver walkaround app helps drivers and operators to easily record vehicle defects and control maintenance.
This could be the ideal way to remotely report documentation for auditing by the DVSA, as part of the earned recognition scheme.
The app can be used as a standalone product, or integrated with STREAM’s app, and can be used on any Android device, from consumer smartphones to Zebra’s ruggedised devices.
