Free DriverWell resource

Working Alone in Road Transport

Practical safety and wellbeing guidance for drivers, operators, couriers, warehouse teams and anyone working without close supervision.

Working alone is part of everyday transport work. Feeling unsupported should not be.

Evidence reviewed August 2026

Built from current HSE, DVSA, DfT, NaVCIS, Government and defined workforce evidence.

Download the full guide

A 10-page, print-friendly A4 guide for briefings, policy reviews and manager conversations.

Use the fillable sense check

A genuine one-page fillable PDF covering all nine questions, actions, owners and review dates.

What it means

Lone working is more than driving alone

HSE defines lone workers as people who work by themselves without close or direct supervision. Its current guidance expressly includes delivery drivers and people working away from a fixed base. Employers must manage the risks before people work alone, including where contractors or self-employed people are engaged.[1][2]

In transport, lone working can include waiting at an isolated site, opening a trailer in darkness, making a doorstep delivery, dealing with a breakdown, working alone in a warehouse or sleeping in a cab away from home.

HSE says work-related road risk should be managed in the same way as risk at a fixed site. Assessment should cover the journey, the driver or rider and the vehicle, as well as lone-worker vulnerability and suitable welfare facilities.[3]

Evidence at a glance

Why realistic planning matters

These figures are carefully scoped to their original source and population. They are not presented as universal statistics for every transport role.

27%

calculated parking shortfall

In the Department for Transport's March 2022 England overnight audit, if every observed vehicle had used an on-site facility.[4]

3,424

freight-crime notifications

Processed by NaVCIS Freight in 2025 from police and industry partners. This is not a complete count of every incident.[5]

26%

refused an unsafe delivery

Among more than 400 USDAW retail home delivery driver respondents, mainly in grocery delivery, surveyed during 2025.[6]

Risks that need a real plan

The same event can become more serious when nobody is nearby to notice, help or escalate.

  • Breakdowns, collisions and road closures
  • Loading, unloading, coupling and uncoupling
  • Falls, sudden illness and manual-handling injury
  • Isolated yards, depots, lay-bys and delivery points
  • Insecure, unavailable or unsuitable parking
  • Verbal abuse, threats, violence and harassment
  • Suspicious approaches, freight crime and theft
  • Poor signal, device failure and missed check-ins
  • Fatigue, stress, distress and post-incident reactions

For operators and managers

What good arrangements look like

Action 1

Assess the actual work

Consider the person, task, vehicle, journey, location and time of day. Include foreseeable problems such as unsafe parking, poor signal, illness, abuse and distress after an incident.

Action 2

Make contact arrangements clear

The worker should know who is monitoring the shift, when contact is expected, what counts as a missed check-in and what happens next.

Action 3

Plan for missed check-ins

Check whether the person is expected to be driving, resting, loading or in a known no-signal area. Escalate proportionately without creating pressure to answer while driving.

Action 4

Support safe stopping decisions

Provide alternatives where reasonably practicable and clear authority to move, reroute or seek police help when a planned location is full, closed or unsafe.

Action 5

Train for real situations

Use realistic scenarios involving aggressive customers, suspicious approaches, night breakdowns, unsafe delivery points and colleagues who sound distressed.

Action 6

Respond without blame

Confirm immediate safety and medical needs first. Arrange recovery or relief where necessary, preserve evidence sensitively and agree follow-up support.

Daily rest and welfare contact

DVSA defines rest as an uninterrupted period during which a driver may freely dispose of their time. Mandatory calls, imposed availability or work can affect whether a period qualifies as rest. Voluntary contact is not automatically prohibited.[9]

Plan routine welfare contact around duty, provide a driver-initiated support route during rest and keep emergency contact separate from routine check-ins. Obtain competent advice for the operation's actual work pattern.

Third-party harassment

A new third-party harassment duty under the Employment Rights Act 2025 is scheduled to take effect on 30 October 2026 in England, Wales and Scotland. At the evidence-review date, it remained prospective.[10][11][12]

Prepare by identifying higher-risk situations, consulting workers, setting standards for customers and clients, providing reporting routes and taking proportionate preventive action. This is general information, not legal advice.

Practical review

Nine-question sense check

Use these questions with workers and managers. A no, not sure or sometimes answer is a prompt for action, not a reason to blame the individual.

  1. 1Does someone know where the worker is expected to be?
  2. 2Is there a clear routine check-in arrangement?
  3. 3Is there a written response for a missed check-in?
  4. 4Are safe stopping or parking alternatives available where reasonably practicable?
  5. 5Is there a clear process for abuse, threats, harassment or suspicious approaches?
  6. 6Can the worker raise a concern without using a phone while driving?
  7. 7Are emergency, breakdown and escalation contacts current and accessible?
  8. 8Does the plan respect drivers' hours, daily rest and the worker's ability to disconnect?
  9. 9Will the organisation support the worker after an incident without blame?

Emergency and wellbeing support

Immediate danger, serious injury or crime in progress: call 999 or 112.

Urgent medical advice: contact NHS 111 where available in your nation.

Samaritans: call 116 123 for free, 24 hours a day.

DriverWell WhatsApp: 07446 188202 for non-emergency support.

DriverWell is not an emergency service.

Sources and review notes

Claims are scoped to the original source and population. The DfT data describes an England overnight audit in March 2022. USDAW figures describe more than 400 surveyed retail home delivery drivers, mainly in grocery delivery. NaVCIS figures are notifications processed, not a complete count of every UK incident.

  1. [1]HSE, Protecting lone workers: How to manage the risks of working alone, INDG73(rev4)
  2. [2]HSE, Lone working: Protect those working alone
  3. [3]HSE, Employers: driving and riding safely for work
  4. [4]Department for Transport, National survey of lorry parking (2022): part 1
  5. [5]NaVCIS Freight
  6. [6]USDAW, Campaign to End Violence and Abuse Against Retail Workers: Survey Results 2025
  7. [7]GOV.UK, Drivers' hours: Assimilated rules
  8. [8]GOV.UK, Drivers' hours: GB domestic rules
  9. [9]DVSA, Drivers' hours and tachographs: goods vehicles
  10. [10]Department for Business and Trade, Employment Rights Act timeline update
  11. [11]Business.gov.uk, Workplace sexual harassment and third-party harassment
  12. [12]Employment Rights Act 2025, section 21

This resource provides general safety and wellbeing information. It does not replace a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, competent health and safety advice, legal advice, medical care, emergency procedures or specialist drivers' hours advice.