Driving temp agency references — licence, compliance and safety record verification

What driving temp references must cover

Driving employment references should address: vehicle categories and licence classes the candidate holds and has operated professionally, any licence endorsements or penalty points the referee is aware of, adherence to drivers' hours regulations and tachograph compliance, vehicle care and pre-use inspection standards, any road traffic incidents or accidents during their employment, conduct with delivery customers and on client premises, loading and unloading competency where relevant, and whether the referee would have any concerns about the candidate driving professionally again. Standard employment reference templates provide almost no useful information for a professional driving placement.

HGV driver shortage and reference compliance pressure

The UK logistics sector faces ongoing HGV driver shortages that create pressure to place drivers quickly without completing full pre-employment checks. A driver placed without adequate references into a logistics operation has unsupervised control of a heavy goods vehicle carrying client goods on public roads. The safety and liability implications of inadequate reference checking in this context are significant — for the placing agency, for the client and for the public. RefAssure's 1 to 3 day turnaround makes compliant HGV driver reference checking achievable even within the tight timescales of logistics agency placements.

Driving agencies placing into FORS or SafeContractor-accredited clients may need references that address specific compliance frameworks relevant to those accreditations. RefAssure driving templates can include compliance-specific questions alongside standard licence and safety fields. From 99p per reference with no subscription.