Working Alone in Road Transport: A New DriverWell Guide and Fillable Checklist
Practical lone-working guidance and a fillable nine-question checklist for transport workers, managers and fleet operators.
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Working Alone in Road Transport: A New DriverWell Guide and Fillable Checklist
Working alone is part of everyday transport work. Feeling unsupported should not be.
DriverWell has published a new lone-working resource for HGV and van drivers, couriers, delivery workers, warehouse and yard staff, mechanics on call, roadside technicians, night workers, self-employed operators and the managers responsible for their safety.
Why transport needs a practical approach
Lone working includes work carried out without close or direct supervision. In road transport, the risks can change quickly because of breakdowns, road closures, isolated delivery points, unsafe parking, poor signal, aggressive customers, freight crime, fatigue or a medical emergency.
A generic office-based checklist may assume that someone can simply stop and call a manager. A driver cannot safely use a phone while moving, and routine contact must respect drivers' hours and daily-rest requirements.
What the new resource covers
The guide helps workers and employers think through:
- who is monitoring a shift and when contact is expected;
- what counts as a missed check-in and what happens next;
- safe stopping and parking alternatives;
- abuse, threats, harassment and suspicious approaches;
- poor-signal areas and device failure;
- breakdowns, collisions, sudden illness and post-incident support;
- welfare contact that does not pressure a driver to answer while driving or interrupt qualifying rest.
The guide draws on current HSE lone-working and driving-at-work guidance, Department for Transport parking evidence, DVSA drivers' hours guidance, NaVCIS Freight data and a clearly scoped USDAW delivery-driver survey.
Open the public lone-working resource.
Download the full guide and fillable checklist
The branded A4 guide is designed for transport workers, manager briefings, risk-assessment reviews and toolbox conversations. The separate one-page checklist contains nine practical questions and is a genuine fillable PDF, so it can be completed digitally or printed.
Open the lone-working page to download both resources.
A note for employers
Employers should assess the actual work, consult workers, provide appropriate training and supervision, maintain clear escalation arrangements and review the plan after incidents or significant changes.
The guide provides general information and practical prompts. It does not replace a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, competent safety advice or legal advice for a particular organisation.
For immediate danger, serious injury or crime in progress, call 999 or 112. DriverWell is not an emergency service.