TORONTO – Through an agreement reached this week between Marsh Canada and VerX Direct Corp., fleet managers will be able to obtain direct, real-time access to most provincial and territorial driver’s licence databases.

VerX provides access to driver records (except in Newfoundland and Labrador) to determine, within a few seconds, whether a licence is valid, suspended, or is fraudulent.

The system can also verify the class of licence, which is especially important for commercial trucking and bus operators.
Monitoring invalid or expired commercial licences among drivers is an ongoing challenge for fleet operators.

According to research conducted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and other organizations, as many as 75 percent of individuals with invalid licences at any given time continue to drive.

These individuals are five times more likely to be in traffic accidents than properly licensed drivers, says Marsh.

"Drivers with invalid licences represent a significant risk, not only to other drivers on the road but also to the organizations that employ them," said Greg St. Croix, National Transportation Risk Focus Leader, Marsh Canada.

"With VerX, we are able to offer organizations an easy and inexpensive way to check driver license status and class, helping them to reduce accident and impoundment rates, mitigate various liability risk issues, and ultimately improve their bottom lines."