Does your company pay for vehicles for employees, or reimburse them for mileage? Considering how much employers paid for work-related motor vehicle crashes in 2017, it seems natural to seek ways to reduce accidents and the associated costs. Motus, a Boston vehicle management and reimbursement platform, released a report that says employers spent $56.7 billion in 2017 on work-related crashes. They estimate that 40 percent of vehicle accidents are work-related and 53 percent of crash injuries cause employees to miss work.

One way they suggest decreasing costs is to limit mileage for reimbursed employees to work-only trips. GPS pings can track mileage as the car makes stops or routes. Employers can then implement a fixed and variable rate (FAVR) to reimburse employees for how much they drive and where they drive, but only for work-related trips. That reduces their costs associated with accidents that occur when an employee is driving “off-hours”.

Another way to reduce costs is to expand the risk management programs for the driver beyond basic motor vehicle record (MVR) checks, since they might not tell the whole story and aren’t always the best indicator of a driver’s performance. Dave Lewis, vice president of Strategy at Motus, said that a driver in New York City might have a clear MVR because they rarely drive. Put them behind the wheel without experience and they might be more likely to crash.

Just 19.5 of employers who have employees in mileage reimbursement programs mandate driver safety programs. 42.6 percent of companies with company-owned vehicles that employee’s drive mandate these programs. Officials from the reporting company suggest individualized training and assessments, and insurance verification of employees could reduce incident rates.

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