Arval becomes a champion of Driving for Better Business

Managing a fleet of over 150,000 vehicles, and with access to over 1.2 million drivers, Arval are committed to road safety which has led them to support the government backed Driving for Better Business programme by becoming a Business Champion. RoadSafe, who manage the programme for the Department for Transport, has welcomed Arval, Europe’s leading fleet and fuel management company, as a champion to promote the work-related road safety programme to its peers in the sector.

In response to its corporate duty of care responsibilities towards business drivers, including driver assessments and related driving checks, Arval developed a series of safety initiatives which have been implemented internally, and communicated to its 38,000-strong customer base and the local community. Their crash re-enactment in November was a very successful event watched by Arval employees, several local schools and college pupils and Arval customers. Arval produced a DVD of the crash event which shows their commitment to raising awareness of safe driving. The DVD is now being shown to drivers all around the country and is available on the Arval website. The success of Arval’s road safety programme has helped to boost the morale amongst all of their employee’s, and has resulted in cost savings both in terms of a reduction in maintenance costs, and those resulting from accidents.

Key to the success of the initiative was the launch of Arval’s “Drive4Life” safety programme 18 months ago, which now forms part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme. Arval take the safety of all employees very seriously and have therefore implemented a policy whereby all Arval employees driving on company business must complete an on-line driving risk assessment. All “business need” company car drivers are required to attend one-to-one on-road driver training, irrespective of their risk rating, and all “non business need” drivers with medium or high risk will receive either on-road or workshop based training.

Commenting on the company’s involvement in the Driving for Better Business programme, Jean-Marc Torre, chief executive of Arval explains: “As a ‘Business Champion,’ we are continually developing our practices for our own fleet, and strive to raise awareness of the issues affecting UK roads, working together with our customers, employees and governing bodies. We want to continue sharing and implementing best practice as well as developing new initiatives to ensure that improving road safety remains at the top of the business agenda.”