Are you managing your drivers properly? If your fleet driver’s licence has expired, the first step is not to panic. You should also not waste any time in starting the process to have it renewed.
The onus is on the licence holder to ensure driver’s licences are renewed every five years – and the dates of issue and expiry are clearly marked on the licence itself - fleet managers and HR managers need to work closely together and actually manage this process to ensure the company business is not affected.
The date of expiry and renewal reminder (a month prior) should be entered into the fleet management programme. This applies for all people who drive on company business.
There are a number of changes happening with regard to licencing and it is equally vital all fleet managers and HR personnel keep up to date with national, regional and local changes to the regulations or processes – for example, the move to online bookings for licence appointments.
All licence offices are really busy and waiting times can be extremely long. It is absolutely imperative you ensure your drivers check carefully with their local office exactly what they need to bring with them – how many photographs and should they be colour or black and white, are optometrist eye test forms acceptable and how much does the renewal cost?
Checklist for drivers
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Go to your nearest Driver’s Licence Testing Centre (DLTC) with the following:
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Identity document (ID) and a copy of your ID, old driving licence card or valid South African passport
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Four black-and-white ID photographs (before you have photographs taken confirm with the DLTC how many photos they require)
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Proof of postal and residential address (such as a utility account.) If the utility bill is not in your name, the owner of the property must make an affidavit declaring that you live at the address and the utility bill must be attached to the affidavit.
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If you stay at an informal settlement, you must bring a letter with an official date stamp from the ward councillor confirming your postal and residential address
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Prescribed application fee.
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Complete form DL1: Application for renewal of driving licence card.
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Complete the notification of change of address or particulars of person or organisation (NCP) form.
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You will do an eye test or you can do it at an optometrist of your choice and take your results to the DLTC.
Read How to manage the licensing of your fleet
If a drivers’ licence has expired and they are within the grace period allowed for expired licenses (this may vary from province to province) you (or they) will need to check on the additional cost for the issue of a temporary licence that is usually valid for six months or until the new licence is issued, whichever comes sooner.
Current Labour Law in South Africa means it is actually extremely difficult to fire someone and that means fleet and HR managers need to ensure they update or revisit the terms of each contract with employees who drive full-time or part time for company business.
This contract should clearly spell out the responsibilities of both the driver and the employer, specifically including licence renewal – and this should be a driver responsibility as the company can only provide support in the form of a reminder.
Companies also have to ensure they give each driver sufficient time off their duties to complete the renewal process.
Additionally, in the event of a crash, the insurance company may contest any payment, especially if the time elapsed from the expiry date to the incident is more than the grace period given by the authorities or there is no proof that steps have been taken to get a new licence.
Checklist for companies
1. Revise and update all employee contracts to ensure items such as licence renewal are covered and have this double-checked by an expert.
a) The contract should clearly spell out the responsibilities of both the employer and employee.
b) It should clearly identify who is responsible for any fees, charges or fines.
c) It should contain the specific details of any disciplinary action (if applicable).
2. Ensure you have a system in place to record the details of all driver’s licences including renewal dates.
3. Be proactive in providing each driver with a timeous warning when a renewal date comes around.
4. Should things go awry and both the licence and grace period expire, consider redeploying the staff member until the licence issue is resolved.
In short, though you should oversee your drivers and it is your responsibility to keep your fleet running smoothly, your drivers need to renew their own licences. Just make sure you allow the time for them to do so.
If you’d like to get more information about renewing your fleet driver’s licence, contact us below:
