This article was produced with Aviva Canada.
Gia Snape, of Insurance Business Canada, sat down with members of the commercial auto team from Aviva Canada’s Aviva Business Insurance (ABI) unit to discuss the challenges around driver hiring and how robust driver management practices are a crucial part of risk management.
The shortage of experienced, qualified drivers is an ongoing challenge for Canada’s commercial trucking industry.
This persistent issue isn’t just a headache for businesses; it also has profound implications for commercial auto insurance policies. The quality and experience of drivers directly influence loss potential, making driver management practices a critical aspect of risk assessment for insurers.
To better support brokers and their transportation clients with heavy and high-exposure vehicles, Aviva Canada has refined its approach to assessing drivers, emphasizing the importance of robust hiring, training, and documenting processes.
Erika Koloff, national manager, ABI Auto, at Aviva Canada, told Insurance Business that Aviva is taking proactive steps to help insureds as the driver shortage has become the “new normal” for trucking and logistics firms.
“Driver hiring practices for heavy and high exposure vehicles are a major pain point in underwriting for brokers and insurance companies,” Koloff said. “It’s challenging to assess and verify relevant experience during this process. For us, it’s one of the most frequent concerns we hear from our broker partners so we’re working with them closely to help address it.”
According to Aviva Canada’s ABI commercial auto team, there are four components to a robust driver management program:
Driver classification involves verifying a driver’s licenses, experience, claims history, and convictions. This step is foundational, as it ensures that only qualified drivers are allowed behind the wheel. For heavy commercial vehicles, operators must provide a commercial vehicle operator record (CVOR), while for lighter vehicles, a driver’s license and MVR suffice.
“It’s crucial to monitor drivers’ claims and losses throughout their employment. We want insureds to take an active approach in this area,” said Tessa Nagassar, senior commercial auto specialist in the West at Aviva Canada.
Driver screening is an ongoing process that doesn’t end with hiring. Regular monitoring of a driver’s claims and losses is crucial. Nagassar stressed the importance of an active approach to driver screening, where insureds assess drivers regularly to ensure they are still the best fit for the company’s vehicles.
Driver orientation and training involves offering training programs and having a handbook that clearly outlines policies and expectations. Regularly updating and documenting driver training enhances safety and provides a record that can be invaluable in the event of an incident.
Finally, accident investigation is key. “We want to see each loss reviewed and actively investigated to identify ways to prevent similar incidents in the future,” said Nagassar.
Kevin Spruin, senior commercial auto specialist in the Atlantic region, stressed that insurers are primarily underwriting the driver’s experience. “Ultimately, our main exposure is the driver behind the wheel, not the vehicle itself,” he said.
Spruin said the driver shortage is an acute issue in the Atlantic region, especially among logging and dump truck operators, which has made it more challenging for insurers to assess a driver’s qualifications.
He explained that drivers frequently move from company to company, making it difficult to obtain experience letters.
“The more information the insureds can provide us, the better,” said Spruin. “It makes it easier for us to make a decision.” Spruin noted that in addition to the driver’s experience – which is personal information available to the driver – employers often perform a number of pre-hiring steps.
“Providing feedback on items such as reference or employment checks and driver road tests helps with our review as opposed to only receiving a copy of the drivers license,” Spruin said.
For light commercial vehicles, an updated MVR could speed up the process and allow underwriters to provide a more accurate quote. For heavy commercial vehicles, Commercial fleet operators should provide an up-to-date commercial MVR and details of prior operating experience – such as a resume, driver profile questionnaire or claims experience letters.
“It’s also important to confirm the driver’s years of experience and the environments they’ve worked in—whether they’ve operated in the US or only in Canada, as cross-border driving presents different challenges,” Spruin noted.
“Additionally, the type of vehicle matters; experience with a heavy dump truck is different from a tractor-trailer or cement truck, and not all risks are interchangeable, so specific vehicle experience is important.”
Jan Allan, senior commercial auto specialist in Ottawa, said: “We try to gather as much information on drivers as possible using the driver profile questionnaire which we regularly share with our brokers.”
The driver profile questionnaire, which is used in Ontario and Alberta, is a detailed questionnaire completed by the driver and covers their years of experience, license class, types of vehicles operated, and any accidents they’ve had.
“The responsibility lies with the driver to accurately provide this information, which we use as a key resource to justify our underwriting,” said Allan.
Aviva Canada has recently revised its driver profile questionnaire to be more specific and make it easier for brokers and underwriters to do business together. Koloff said the team is looking to extend its use in commercial auto submissions nationally.
When it comes to “nice to haves,” the Aviva Canada team encouraged brokers to submit their client’s driver hiring policies along with their applications.
“It’s especially helpful when brokers send us [the client’s] hiring, maintenance, investigation, and loss prevention policies upfront,” said Nagassar. “It reassures me that the insured has considered these aspects, which makes me more confident in writing the risk.”
Allan pointed out that driver mentorship programs are a great way for firms to show they’re continually training their drivers.
“For example, a three-month hands-on training period, followed by a review of the driver’s performance, would be ideal,” she said. “Instead of just putting the driver in a truck and deciding on the spot whether to hire them, it would be beneficial to see a structured plan for how the driver will be trained and evaluated.”
Similarly, clients having a distracted driving policy can be beneficial for underwriters to see too.
From enhancing driver hiring practices to supporting brokers and insureds in navigating these complexities, Aviva Canada is committed to ensuring that the right drivers are behind the wheel, ultimately protecting both businesses and the broader public.
Koloff highlighted the company’s efforts to streamline the process of sharing and utilizing driver information. “Often, the necessary information is available from the insured; our goal is to streamline the process of accessing and utilizing it,” she said.
By enhancing the driver profile questionnaire and aligning policies with legislative requirements, Aviva aims to make it easier for brokers to provide the necessary information upfront, enabling more accurate underwriting.
Moreover, Aviva is open to reviewing the hiring and onboarding processes of its insureds. If these processes meet the company’s underwriting criteria, they can be approved, provided they are consistently followed.
This flexibility is part of Aviva’s broader strategy to adapt to the evolving market and the day-to-day realities faced by brokers and insureds.
“Effective information sharing from the initial request through the policy lifecycle helps our underwriters create policies with the right coverage, ultimately protecting our insureds from their business exposures,” Koloff said.
Aviva Canada also has a wide range of tips and insights for commercial vehicles that brokers can share with clients. Check them out here.
