Are Your Employees Qualified to Drive CMVs?

As the owner of a garage and auto body shop, it is important that you protect your company. Of course, having the proper garage insurance policies in place will help protect your assets and operations. Of course for employees, they are covered with workers compensation and receive benefits, but protection runs much deeper than coverage.
Are all of your workers certified or qualified in all areas of your business? For example, if any of your employees operates a vehicle that weighs over 10,000 lbs, they must be DOT certified. If not, in addition to being held liable for any accidents or damages that happen, you will more than likely face a large lawsuit and DOT fines. To avoid this from happening, it is important to meet the DOT driver qualification standards for any employees who may be operating CMVs. This means, among other things, that:
• Drivers must be medically certified every other year to be in good health and physically able to perform all duties of a driver;
• Be at least 21 years of age;
• Be able to drive the vehicle safely;
• Must have a valid driver’s license;
• Pass a driver’s road test or equivalent;
• Have their 10-year motor vehicle driving history reviewed and approved;
• Before operating equipment 26,001 pounds or more, they must have a valid Commercial drivers license (CDL), be drug tested and have a passing result and be entered into a pool for random drug tests.
Sure, not all of your employees may be moving and driving CMVs but those who will need to be DOT qualified!
If you have any other questions or concerns, never hesitate to contact our experts at Wolpert Insurance. We would be more than happy to answer your questions and provide your business with a free garage insurance quote!
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