Company vehicle use agreement for NEMT drivers: personal use, take-home vans, and damage
Overview
A company vehicle use agreement is a signed page that says who may drive an assigned van, when it may be used beyond trips, how it is fueled, parked, and tracked, and what to do after a crash. For a take-home van it is also the employer-employee agreement the federal commuting exclusion requires and the written policy the IRS commuting rule requires.
On this page
Use this agreement for every van a driver is assigned, not only the ones that go home overnight. Replace each bracket with your own details, strike any option you do not need, and have the driver sign before the first shift. The reasons behind a take-home program, including insurer approval, the IRS commuting value, and which drive counts as paid time, are in the take-home vehicle guide. This page is the document the driver signs.
Why the signed page matters
A take-home van needs this page in writing for two separate reasons. The Portal-to-Portal Act treats a commute in an employer’s vehicle, and the activities that go with it, as outside the driver’s principal activities only when the trip stays within the business’s normal commuting area and the vehicle’s use is subject to an agreement between employer and employee (29 U.S.C. 254(a)). The IRS commuting value of $1.50 for each one-way trip depends on a written policy that limits personal use to commuting plus trivial stops, which the driver then follows in fact (Publication 15-B).
A van that only runs shifts still benefits from the same page. It settles who may drive, what happens after damage, and who holds the fuel card before anyone needs to ask.
The agreement
[Company name] company vehicle use agreement
Driver: [name] | Vehicle: [year, make, unit number, plate, last six of VIN] | Effective date: [date]
1. What this covers
This agreement covers the vehicle named above and any other vehicle [Company name] assigns to you, on shift and off. You agree to it as a condition of driving a company vehicle.
2. Who may drive
Only you may drive the vehicle. You must hold a valid [state] license of the class the vehicle needs, and you must be listed with [Company name]‘s insurer as an approved driver. Family, friends, and other employees may not drive it, even to move it. Tell [dispatch contact] within [24 hours] if your license is suspended, restricted, or expired, or if you receive a moving violation.
3. Work use and passengers
Use the vehicle for [Company name] trips and tasks your supervisor assigns. Carry only the riders on your manifest and an escort or attendant booked with them. No other passengers, and no cargo for hire or for yourself.
4. Commuting and personal use
[Option A: commuting only] You may drive the vehicle between your home and [the lot / your first pickup] only on days [Company name] has approved take-home use in writing, for this reason: [reason, such as early first pickups near your home]. Any other personal use is not allowed. A brief stop on the direct route home is the only exception. Record each commute on Schedule B.
[Option B: limited personal use] Personal use is allowed [days and purposes]. Record each day’s start and end odometer and your business and personal miles on Schedule B. [Company name] adds the value of your personal use to your taxable wages as the law requires.
5. Fuel and the fuel card
Fuel only this vehicle, with the card assigned to it and your own PIN. Never share the PIN or lend the card. Use [fuel grade] and keep each receipt or enter the fill-up in the fuel log the same day.
6. Parking and security
Park at [approved address], off the street where possible. Lock the vehicle whenever you leave it and keep the keys with you. Tell [Company name] before you change where it is parked. Never leave rider paperwork, a manifest, or a company phone or tablet inside overnight.
7. Tracking and cameras
The vehicle has [GPS tracking / a dash camera / both]. [Company name] records [location during shifts / location whenever the vehicle moves / video] for dispatch, for the safety of riders and drivers, and for trip records. [Company name] does not review location data for [off-duty time], except [after a theft or a reported crash]. Cabin audio is [not recorded]. You acknowledge this notice by signing.
8. Start-of-shift check
Before your first trip, complete the vehicle check and report any defect right away. Do not carry riders in a vehicle with a lift, securement, brake, tire, light, or seat belt defect until it is repaired.
9. Tickets, tolls, and parking
You are responsible for tickets and fines for violations you commit while driving, and you pay them to the issuing office. [Company name] pays tolls and parking for assigned trips. You pay tolls and parking for personal use.
10. Crashes, theft, and damage
For injuries, call 911 first. Then call [dispatch phone] right away after any crash, theft, break-in, or damage, even a small scrape. Do not admit fault or promise payment. Exchange names and insurance details, note plates and witnesses, and take pictures of the scene and the vehicle if it is safe, keeping riders and their paperwork out of the frame. Finish an incident report the same day.
[Company name] handles repairs and insurance claims. Nothing in this agreement authorizes [Company name] to deduct money from your pay. If [Company name] believes you owe an amount for damage, it will tell you in writing first and will follow [state] law.
11. Ending the arrangement
[Company name] may end take-home or personal use at any time. On request, and on your last day of work, return the vehicle, keys, fobs, fuel card, lift handle, equipment, and any company phone or tablet.
12. If you break this agreement
Breaking these rules can lead to loss of take-home or personal use and discipline under [handbook name].
Driver signature: ____________ Date: ______
[Company name] representative: ____________ Date: ______
Schedule A: Condition when issued and when returned
| Item | When issued | When returned |
|---|---|---|
| Odometer reading | ||
| Fuel level | ||
| Keys and fobs (count) | ||
| Fuel card (last 4 digits) | ||
| Lift or ramp works, manual backup handle on board | ||
| Securement straps and belts (count, condition) | ||
| Fire extinguisher, first aid kit, other required equipment | ||
| Existing damage (describe where and how) | ||
| Initials of driver and of [Company name] |
Schedule B: Commute and personal use log
Fill in one line per day the vehicle is used for anything but the day’s trips.
| Date | Odometer start | Odometer end | Business miles | Commuting and personal miles | One-way commutes (count) | Driver initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Example (made up, for illustration only):
| Date | Odometer start | Odometer end | Business miles | Commuting and personal miles | One-way commutes (count) | Driver initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 6 | 48,210 | 48,347 | 126 | 11 | 2 | D.M. |
Why Schedule B exists
The log answers one question: how much of the vehicle’s use is taxable. Under the commuting rule the value is $1.50 for each one-way commute, so the count of commutes is the number you need. Under the cents-per-mile rule the value is the standard mileage rate times personal miles driven, so you need the personal miles, commuting included.
Under the lease value rule, Publication 15-B says the employee must account to the employer for business use by substantiating the mileage, the time and place of the travel, and the business purpose. It adds that written records made at the time of each business use are the best evidence, and that any use of a company vehicle not substantiated as business use is included in income. Owners and other control employees value personal use another way, and the take-home guide explains who counts.
Pages behind the sections
- Section 2, who may drive. Send your insurer the same name the agreement carries. The take-home guide lists the questions to put to your agent.
- Section 5, fuel. The weekly match of card purchases to shifts and fill-ups belongs in the key and fuel card log, not in this agreement.
- Section 7, tracking. This section is the written notice. The telematics guide compares hardware trackers with driver phones, and the dash camera guide covers footage and the audio consent rules.
- Sections 9 and 10, tickets and damage. Read the guide to charging drivers for damage and tickets before taking anything out of a paycheck, and use the incident report template for the same-day report.
Using the agreement with HealthRide
Drivers using HealthRide check their van in the app at the start of every shift, so a record of the van’s condition exists for each shift, not only at hand-off. Trip records carry GPS-recorded miles to set beside the odometer readings in Schedule B. See how van records work in fleet management.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a driver use a company van for personal errands?
- Only as far as the option you choose in section 4. The IRS commuting rule needs a written policy that bars personal use beyond commuting and de minimis use, which Publication 15-B illustrates with a stop for a personal errand between a business delivery and home. You can allow wider personal use, but its value is then taxable, measured by cents per mile or by lease value, and you need the driver's personal miles on record.
- Can the agreement make a driver pay for damage to the van?
- Not in a way that breaks wage law, so the template authorizes no deductions. Under the Labor Department's Fact Sheet 16, no deduction may cut a worker's pay below minimum wage or into overtime, even when the loss comes from the employee's negligence, and asking for cash repayment does not get around that. Many states go further, and the guide to charging drivers for damage lists them.
- Why name the one driver who may use the van?
- Because permission is a company decision with insurance consequences. New York, for example, makes an owner answerable for injuries or property damage caused by negligent use of a vehicle by anyone driving with the owner's permission, express or implied, whether or not the use was in the owner's business (Vehicle and Traffic Law 388). Name the driver, send the name to your insurer, and say in writing that nobody else may drive.
- Must we tell drivers the van is tracked?
- Say it in the agreement either way, and in some states it is the law. New Jersey sets a civil penalty of up to $1,000 the first time and up to $2,500 after that for an employer that knowingly uses a tracking device, one whose sole purpose is tracking movement, in a vehicle an employee uses without giving the employee written notice. Section 7 gives the notice, and the driver signs it with the rest.
