Dispoly Team
The colleague from field sales has been banned from driving for three weeks. He hasn't told anyone, and he takes the key for the Caddy from the cabinet as usual. If nothing happens, nobody notices. If he crashes, the police ask two questions: who was driving? And who let him drive?
The second question is aimed at you. This post explains where the duty to check driving licences comes from in Germany, how often to check for pool vehicles, which data you may record and how to build the check into the routine without a list nobody reads. It is general information, not legal advice.
The duty isn't spelled out in a law of its own. It follows from § 21 of the German Road Traffic Act (StVG). The offence covers not only whoever drives without a licence but also the vehicle keeper who "orders or permits" someone to drive the vehicle without the required licence or despite a driving ban.
If you never looked, you will struggle to rule out negligence. The keeper of a company vehicle is the company, club or municipality, and the managing director, board or head of administration act for it. The task can be delegated to a fleet manager. That person has to be reliable, the task has to be clearly defined, and management should check now and then that the checks happen.
Insurance adds to it. If someone drives without a licence, motor liability insurance still pays the other party, but it can claim up to 5,000 euros back. Comprehensive cover can fail entirely. On the occupational safety side, DGUV Regulation 70 (§ 35) requires that only suitable, instructed people who have been assigned by the employer drive a vehicle on their own.
The law sets no fixed interval. You are expected to check often enough that a revoked licence or a driving ban doesn't go unnoticed for months. In practice, three levels have become common:
| Situation | Usual interval |
|---|---|
| Fixed group of drivers, everyone has signed a usage agreement | at first use, then every six months |
| Changing group, temps, volunteers, guests | before every handover |
| Specific reason: penalty points, alcohol, a hint from the team | immediately, then more often |
Checking every six months is the most common recommendation for assigned company cars. A pool vehicle carries more risk because the key passes through many hands. If you don't know the group of drivers well, check at the handover. The usage agreement should also oblige drivers to report a revoked licence or a ban right away. That doesn't replace the check, but it closes the gap between two dates.
Take the original in your hand, not a photo on a phone. Then four points:
Old licences are a special case: paper licences and card licences issued before 2013 are being exchanged in stages until 2033. If the exchange deadline has passed, the document is invalid, but the driving entitlement isn't. That means a small fine, not driving without a licence. Point it out anyway, because the next police check will ask.
A driving licence contains more than you need, and restriction codes can be health data. Record only what supports the proof:
You don't need a copy of the licence. Data protection experts mostly consider it unnecessary, and a note with date and signature proves the check just as well. If you have a works council, agree the check with it, because it concerns conduct in the workplace. In a club, a board resolution records who does the checking.
The log fits in a spreadsheet or on a sheet in the fleet folder. One row per check, not per person, so you see the history.
| Name | Classes | Valid until (C1/C/D only) | Checked on | Checked by | Next check | Signature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
To keep the log from going to sleep, give the next date a fixed place: in the responsible person's calendar as a recurring task, for example March and September for everyone.
A half-yearly list alone quickly becomes a formality for pool vehicles. A moment when someone takes over the vehicle anyway works better. Three ways, from simple to binding:
1. Only people who have signed may drive. The pool vehicle usage agreement covers driving authorisation, the check interval and the duty to report in clause 2. In the generator you choose between "At first use and every 6 months", "At every pickup" and "Once a year".
2. Bookings need approval. If every booking goes through the fleet manager, they see who is driving and can ask about unfamiliar names before the key leaves.
3. The question in the handover record. At pickup, the driver answers a required question such as "Licence valid and with you?". That doesn't replace looking at the original, but it records for each trip that the question was asked, and a "No" stands out. A template for the whole record is our handover form.
Dispoly doesn't check driving licences. A person does the check, and you keep the check log yourselves. Dispoly makes sure nobody drives unnoticed between two checks.
Approval. New categories are created with "Require admin approval for reservations" already ticked. Each vehicle can override that under "Approval Required", for example "Always require approval" for the van over 3.5 tonnes and "Auto-approve" for the small car. A rule like "only people with class C1 may book the van" doesn't exist. Approval is where you check it.
Required question at pickup. Under "Pickup & return" on the vehicle's detail page, add a field of type "Select" with the options Yes and No, tick "Required" and ask it at "Pickup". The other vehicles take over the setup with "Copy from resource". The answer then sits in the logbook with name and time.
Proof. "Export logbook…" gives one row per booking with "Booked by", "Driver", "Picked up at", "Picked up by" and a column for your licence question. When a fines office or insurer asks who had the car and whether anyone checked, it's there.
Revocation. If someone loses their licence, an admin removes them from the organisation. From then on they can't book. Future bookings that already exist stay in place and have to be cancelled by hand.
Whether and when pool vehicles need a logbook is covered in Pool vehicle logbooks in Germany. What else belongs in the record at a handover is in our handover checklist. If you still manage bookings in Excel or Outlook, start with Managing pool vehicles. The feature at a glance is on the vehicle logbook page.
Pickup & return is included in all plans, including Starter, at no extra cost. Trying it costs nothing: no contract, no setup fee, 30 days free.