Northgate launches Safe Driver programme as companies put driver wellbeing and safety at the top of their priority lists

Northgate Vehicle Hire has launched a new package of driver safety solutions to increase driver wellbeing and fleet efficiency for companies of all sizes. Called ‘Safe Driver’ it includes driver training, safety, and compliance functions, and is available for all businesses across the UK, not just Northgate customers. These are supported by a range of compliance checks including licence and grey fleet checks and driver and fleet audits which will help companies identify and then reduce costs.

Northgate Safe Driver was developed in response to a customer survey Northgate carried out late in 2021, which defined the key priorities of its van customers. Companies put drivers first, with wellbeing, safety, compliance listed as their top three priorities, followed by business cost savings. Neil McCrossan, Northgate Vehicle Hire’s sales and marketing director said: “Since the beginning of the pandemic LCV drivers have become recognised as key workers as they have played an integral part in keeping the country moving.

“More companies are proactively looking after their drivers’ wellbeing more closely to help reduce risks for when they drive on company business. Driver retention is also a key consideration for employers now as the competition for staff heats up after the pandemic. The better you look after a driver the more likely they will stay with your business for longer,” he added.

Northgate Safe Driver offers training for both fleets and their drivers on the best ways to reduce on-road risks, with a full suite of training options available including e-learning modules, on-road training, driver workshops and even virtual learning environments. A four-stage driver risk-assessment program integrates with the training package to recommend the correct courses for a company’s needs all of which meet the ISO: 39001 road traffic safety (RTS) management standard. It also has the additional ability to perform grey fleet checks on the insurance, tax, and MOT statuses of employees owned vehicles used for business purposes, a common-place area of risk for fleets.

This is supported by an online driver licence checking portal which helps ensure drivers are all compliant. All training activity and results are then fed into a centralised reporting system to give full visibility of all drivers and vehicle performance directly to managers in real time to ensure they are acted upon quickly and efficiently. Neil added: “Companies didn’t realise that licence checking could be cost effectively automated and outsourced.

With our licence scanning solution, licence checks take just seconds to check, while the process is also highly time and cost efficient.”