[Business Operations] Take-Home Debate

From online chat rooms to the board room, one conversation never seems to cease: Should technicians take their service vehicles home? For every advantage this common practice provides, a serious disadvantage looms. Pest management professionals and industry experts are divided on the issue. Here’s a look at some pros and cons.

LIABILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY. A truckbed full of deer blood. Dead fish under the spray tank. Un-routed tours of the city (noticed, thanks to GPS tracking). Not to mention the potential for off-duty DUIs, accidents and injury. “Situations like these scare the heck out of the insurance company,” said W.H. Brownyard Corp. Program Manager John Culotta, Bay Shore, N.Y., which provides insurance to the pest management industry.

“Liability follows the vehicle,” Culotta said. If a technician has an accident in a company-owned vehicle while off duty, the pest control firm’s auto policy will have to respond. “It’s certainly not in the employer’s best interest to allow the vehicles to be taken home. There’s too much that can happen.”

“Liability is clearly a concern for Orkin, but our primary concern is the safety of our employees, our customers and the general public,” said Mike Gibney, director of claims and loss control for Orkin, Atlanta. The majority of the company’s 6,000 vehicle fleet is locked overnight in fenced yards, and technicians use their own vehicles to drive to and from work. “At the end of the day, we want to make sure our employees get home safe and sound and there are no temptations to use the vehicles except for their intended purpose.”

Yet, take-home vehicle perks can help recruitment and increase productivity. “It’s a benefit to the individual because they can be more productive for themselves and their families by being more productive at work,” said Fred Strickland, vice president of service and technical support for Memphis, Tenn.-based Terminix, which has 6,000 fleet vehicles. “If we trust our technicians to apply pesticide, we ought to be able to trust them with our truck driving home.”

Besides saving personal gas, vehicle and insurance costs, technicians can service customers on the way to and from the office. “It helps us with our customers because we’re able to keep our service promises in a more timely fashion,” Strickland added.

HomeTeam Pest Defense Vice President of Finance Kevin Wolf, Dallas, agrees. The company, which has 1,200 service vehicles, allows technicians to take their vehicles home, giving them flexibility to address customer needs, he said.

PARKING & IMAGE CONSIDERATIONS. Opinions also differ on the best place to park vehicles overnight. Cullota and Gibney said vehicles in fenced yards are more secure than those in technicians’ driveways.

However, many companies don’t have secure overnight parking, so it is safer for drivers to take vehicles home, said Commercial Lines Manager Joanne Roulo, Aitken & Ormond Insurance, Grosse Pointe, Mich.

Vandals can strike anywhere, Wolf said. “They just can’t hit 50 vehicles at once” if parked in technicians’ driveways. Taking vehicles home saves parking lot space and the cost of security initiatives, Strickland added.

Company image is another consideration. “The last thing we want is somebody getting involved in an accident and hurting somebody,” Gibney said. “That’s a reflection on Orkin. We work very hard to protect that image and the employee who has use of that vehicle.”

At the same time, many pest management professionals say service vehicles can help build awareness in the communities in which they’re parked.

PROTECT YOURSELF. Clearly worded, specific vehicle use policies are a must for firms that allow employees to drive company-owned vehicles, says human resources consultant Jean Seawright of Seawright & Associates, Winter Park, Fla. These policies should outline parking, security, maintenance, use limitations, driver responsibilities, company expectations, procedures for tickets and accidents, as well as numerous other conditions for use.

Have a consultant well versed in U.S. Department of Labor requirements review your firm’s pay practices to ensure federal and state regulations are met for employees who take home company vehicles, Seawright advised. When, for instance, is such an employee on and off the clock? “Regulations related to ‘work time’ for employees who drive a company vehicle to and from work are very complex and create a lot of confusion. Many companies establish pay practices that seem logical, not even realizing they’re violating a wage and labor regulation.”

In addition, employees’ motor vehicle records (MVRs) must be carefully screened before driving privileges are granted. Many pest management professionals review MVRs and conduct criminal background checks and drug tests as part of the pre-employment process. Terminix reviews MVRs annually.

For a small fee, some states, like Michigan, allow employers to access MVRs online and receive automatic notification if driving records of employees entered into the system have changed. “There’s no hiding,” Roulo said. Taking home a service vehicle is an “earned right” that can be immediately rescinded, Strickland said.

To boost driving and safety skills, Home-Team Pest Defense requires all technicians to complete the Smith System driver’s train-ing program. The course emphasizes good driving habits and safety awareness to help “our drivers be better citizens on the road,” Wolf said.

Some firms rely on Global Positioning Systems to track service vehicle use. Orkin uses GPS to help manage a small number of technicians who service remote routes from home. “We have very good compliance from our employees,” Gibney said. “We know if there is a situation where a vehicle is used in an unauthorized manner. Those are dealt with individually. It doesn’t happen very often.” GPS helps promote accountability, an important quotient of safety, he adds.

Terminix employs GPS and hand-held electronic units that work together similar to a “mini wi-fi,” keeping technicians and the branch “live,” Strickland said. Immediately knowing technicians’ locations and work load allows for “dynamic routing” should an emergency or opportunity arise, he said.

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT magazine.