Tool Kit

Journey Management and Trip Planning

Driving for work may be one of the most dangerous things your employees do. Journey management can help reduce the risks. It can help eliminate unnecessary driving and manage the risks drivers face when they have to be on the road. Learn how our online TripCheck tool can help you create a trip plan in minutes.


Benefits of journey management

Effective journey management is good for employees who drive for work, their employers, and the planet. It’s smart business. It can help to keep people safe, cut travel costs, and reduce carbon emissions. It’s an easy tool for organizations of any size to use.

What is journey management?

Journey management  is a 2-part process that aims to prevent crashes and injuries by minimizing exposure to driving-related hazards.

It starts by deciding whether driving is necessary. It explores alternatives that would allow drivers to skip getting behind the wheel. Not driving is always the safest option, since crashes are the leading cause of work-related traumatic death in BC.

Trip planning is the second part of the process. When driving is necessary, it helps drivers prepare for the safest possible journey.

Protecting your best assets: people
Fulfilling legal obligations
Reducing costs
Improving carbon footprint
Enhancing productivity

Using journey management

Employers, supervisors, and drivers can all apply journey management principles. The two steps don’t take much time to complete and they serve as an early warning system that helps prevent crashes. Our TripCheck tool makes planning easy.

Step 1: Is driving necessary?

The first stage of journey management is to avoid needless driving. Start by asking yourself whether the trip has to be made.

Consider these alternative ways to get work done without getting in your vehicle:

  • Working from home
  • Phone/email
  • Online meeting
  • Courier or delivery service

If it’s necessary to be there in person, there are plenty of safer ways to get there than driving yourself:

Some of these alternatives have their own hazards. Buses and taxis travel on roads too, for example. But the risks are usually lower thanks to the driving skills of professionals and the safety measures taken by their employers.

Step 2: Can you reduce driving-related risk?

Sometimes driving can’t be avoided. When that’s the case, journey management calls for building a trip plan.

Your plan analyzes the trip ahead and anticipates the hazards you can reasonably expect to encounter. You then consider ways to reduce exposure to those hazards, such as taking a safer route and allowing plenty of time to get where you’re going. The plan also makes you think about managing risks you can’t avoid, such as speeders and dangerous intersections.

When to use a trip plan
What to put in a trip plan

Our TripCheck online tool helps you create a plan in minutes. Use it in combination with effective training, supervision, and inspections to help keep drivers safe.

You can also use our Journey Management Policy Template (Word 56KB) to create your own policy.


Travel check-in system

A check-in system is a quick process drivers use to let someone in their organization know they’re safe and the trip is going to plan. It’s a best practice for any organization that has employees who drive for work. It can also be a legal responsibility for employers.

How it works

A check-in system is a key part of trip planning. It helps employers verify their employees are safe. It’s also an employer requirement any time an employee works alone. This includes when they are driving by themselves.

A check-in system involves scheduled communications between a driver or passengers and a contact person. If a check-in is missed, the contact person tries to reach the driver to make sure everything is OK. If no contact is made, emergency measures may be taken.

Creating a check-in system

A check-in system explains:

How often the driver will contact the organization while travelling
How the driver will check in
Who drivers will contact
The procedure when check-ins are missed

Check-in examples

There’s no standard check-in procedure. Here are some examples that could be used by your organization.

Example 1: Mobile patient care
Example 2: Sales trips in northern BC
Example 3: Municipal employee working along busy streets

Use our Check-in Procedures Template (Word 24KB) and ideas from these examples to help create a system.


TripCheck

TripCheck is a step-by-step planning tool to help you reduce the risks associated with driving for work. It takes about 3 minutes to complete and covers the driver, the trip, and the vehicle. Drivers who are prepared with a plan are better equipped to deal with the hazards they will encounter.

Using TripCheck

The online version allows you to complete a checklist, print your plan, and email it to up to 3 people. You can save the plan on your desktop or laptop computer, or mobile device.

Start TripCheck

You can also use TripCheck offline. We recommend all employees keep a printed copy of the forms in their vehicle, in case they lose online access.

Download and complete the forms below:

Have drivers submit completed forms to their supervisor.


Resources

Tool

TripCheck

TripCheck is a step-by-step planning tool that you can complete in 3 minutes. Use it before each trip to help you reduce the risks associated with driving for work.
Safety tips for using taxis and ride hailing services for work travel
PDF 145KB
Journey Management Policy Template
Word 39KB
Check-in Procedures Template
Word 33KB
TripCheck offline form
PDF 520KB
TripCheck offline customizable form
Word 38KB