Duty of Care in Corporate Ground Transportation

Duty of care travel programs usually start with flights and hotels, because that is where the booking data lives. Ground transport is harder to see. An employee lands at midnight, takes whatever car is available, and the company has no record of the vehicle, the driver or the route until an expense claim arrives weeks later. Yet the road journey from the airport is where a traveler is most exposed: tired, unfamiliar with the city and dependent on a stranger.

This guide is for travel managers, security leads, HR and procurement teams who want ground transport to meet the same standard as the rest of their program. It explains where the duty comes from, what the international guidance says, how to set supplier standards for chauffeured cars, how to manage driver fatigue and trip tracking without overreaching on privacy, and what to write into policy. It is practical guidance, not legal advice; your counsel should confirm how the law applies to your organization.

What does duty of care mean for corporate ground transportation?

The phrase "duty of care" has a legal meaning that varies by country, but the practical expectation is consistent. If an organization sends someone to travel for work, it should understand the risks of that travel and take sensible measures to reduce them.

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Act's general duty clause requires each employer to furnish employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm. How far that reaches into a taxi queue in another country is a question for lawyers, but road travel is a recognized hazard by any measure. In Great Britain, the Health and Safety Executive publishes guidance on driving and riding safely for work, with sections for employers, for workers who drive or ride, and on vehicle safety technologies and telematics. Work-related road journeys sit inside the health and safety conversation, not outside it.

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What ISO 31030 adds to travel risk management

The most useful framework for travel risk management is ISO 31030:2021, Travel risk management: Guidance for organizations. The International Organization for Standardization describes it as guidance on how to manage the risks, to the organization and its travelers, that result from undertaking travel. It applies to any type of organization, including commercial, charitable, governmental, non-governmental and educational bodies, and it covers leisure travel only when people travel on behalf of the organization.

ISO 31030 is guidance, not a certifiable requirement, and the full text is a paid document. Its value for ground transport is the structure it encourages: assess the risk of each kind of journey, choose controls proportionate to that risk, make sure travelers know the arrangements, monitor them in practice and review what happened after incidents. A company that can show it followed that cycle for ground transport is in a far stronger position than one that simply reimbursed whatever employees booked.

Mapping the risk of a road journey

Not every car ride needs the same control. A useful exercise is to rate common journey types by exposure and choose a matching standard.

Country risk changes over time, so build your matrix on current official advice. The UK government's foreign travel advice is published country by country and is a reliable baseline alongside your own security provider's assessments. When advice for a destination changes, review which journey standard applies there.

Setting supplier standards for chauffeured cars

Once the risk levels are set, the program needs suppliers that can meet them consistently across cities. The minimum standard for a corporate car supplier should include:

• Licensing for the operator, the driver and the vehicle, as required where the pickup happens.
• Commercial insurance that covers paying passengers, with a certificate on file and a renewal date tracked.
• Driver vetting, including background checks where local law allows them, and driving record checks.
• Vehicle standards: age limits, maintenance and inspection records, seat belts working in every seat.
• Fatigue management for drivers (see below).
• Incident reporting: how quickly the supplier reports an accident, delay or complaint, and to whom.
• Data handling: what traveler data the supplier holds, where, for how long and who can see it.

Our guide to how to choose a limo company shows how to check licensing and insurance in practice. For a program spanning many cities, the efficient route is a single desk that vets local operators once and books them consistently. That is the model behind our corporate car service and global chauffeur service: every ride is delivered by a vetted, licensed and commercially insured local operator from our directory, and booked, confirmed and invoiced by one desk. The why book with us page explains the vetting.

Need a vetted car for an upcoming business trip? Price it here; the fare is confirmed before you pay.

Driver fatigue: the risk travel policies forget

Most travel policies address traveler fatigue, for example by banning self-drive after a long-haul flight. Fewer ask about the fatigue of the person driving the car. A chauffeur who has already worked twelve hours is a real risk on a late-night airport run or a long intercity transfer.

US federal rules give a useful benchmark. For drivers of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles, 49 CFR 395.5 prohibits driving more than 10 hours following 8 consecutive hours off duty, or driving after 15 hours on duty following 8 hours off. It also sets weekly limits of 60 hours on duty in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days for carriers operating every day. These rules apply to larger passenger vehicles, not every sedan, but they are a sensible reference when you ask suppliers how they manage driver hours.

Practical controls a travel manager can require:

1. Suppliers confirm they schedule drivers within a stated maximum shift.
2. Long days, such as a 12-hour roadshow, use a driver change or a planned rest break.
3. Intercity trips over a set distance include a rest stop or a second driver.
4. Travelers are told they may refuse a car if the driver appears unfit, with a clear number to call for a replacement.

Knowing where travelers are, without overreaching

Employee travel safety depends on being able to locate people when something happens: an earthquake, a transport strike, a security incident near a hotel. Ground transport data helps, because a confirmed booking shows where a traveler should be and when.

Useful data points from a chauffeur booking include the pickup time and place, the flight number being tracked, the driver's name and phone number, the vehicle and plate, the drop-off address and the time the trip actually ended. Travel risk platforms can often receive booking data from approved suppliers, so the security team sees ground journeys alongside flights and hotels.

Tracking must stay proportionate. The UK Information Commissioner's Office publishes detailed guidance on monitoring workers and how it interacts with data protection law, aimed primarily at employers. It notes the guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act, so check the current version. The principle that matters for travel programs is transparency: tell travelers what is collected, why, who sees it and for how long, and collect no more than the purpose needs. Booking-level data is usually enough; continuous personal location tracking needs a much stronger justification.

Writing ground transport into your duty of care travel policy

A short, clear policy section works better than a long one nobody reads. A practical template:

• Approved options. Name the approved chauffeur supplier and any approved apps, and say when each may be used.
• Mandatory pre-booking. Require pre-booked cars for late-night arrivals, first visits to a city and destinations above a set risk level.
• Meet and greet. Require a named meet and greet inside the terminal for high-risk destinations and late arrivals, so travelers never accept offers from unofficial drivers.
• Self-drive limits. Ban self-drive after overnight flights and on long intercity days.
• Executives and high-profile staff. Specify an executive chauffeur service and a need-to-know itinerary; our guide to executive protection and the chauffeur covers coordination with security teams.
• Incident contacts. One 24/7 number for the traveler and one escalation path for the company.
• Data. What ground booking data is shared with the risk platform and how long it is kept.

For larger organizations, our guide to large company ground transport programs covers account structures, approvals and reporting, and setting up a corporate car service account explains billing and traveler profiles.

Measuring whether the program works

Duty of care is not proved by a policy document. It is proved by records. Review these at least quarterly:

• Share of ground journeys booked through approved channels versus reimbursed ad hoc.
• Incidents, delays and complaints by supplier and city, with time to resolution.
• Late-night and high-risk arrivals that had a pre-booked car.
• Supplier certificates approaching expiry.
• Traveler feedback on drivers and vehicles.

Concrete routes make the numbers meaningful. A trade-fair visitor from Frankfurt Airport to the Messe is about 12 km (7.5 mi) and 15 to 35 minutes; see our Frankfurt airport page. A banker landing at Dubai International for meetings in DIFC is about 10 to 12 km (6 to 7 mi) and 15 to 25 minutes, covered on our Dubai International airport page. When every such trip appears in the program data with a vetted supplier attached, the company can show its duty of care rather than assume it. Conference teams moving delegates in volume can add our conference transportation service to the same reporting.

Sources

• International Organization for Standardization: ISO 31030:2021 Travel risk management
• OSHA: OSH Act Section 5, duties
• Health and Safety Executive: Driving and riding safely for work
• eCFR: 49 CFR 395.5, maximum driving time for passenger-carrying vehicles
• Information Commissioner's Office: Employment practices and data protection, monitoring workers
• GOV.UK: Foreign travel advice

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