Company vehicle policy, Tamberlin Plumbing

Company vehicle policy template for work vans, with private use limits

A company vehicle policy has to say who can drive, how far private use can go, who pays fines and what happens after a crash, and in Australia the private use rules decide whether fringe benefits tax applies. This four page Australian policy for a plumbing business with 12 vans does that with five driver conditions, the ATO's 1,000 km and 200 km limits, a logbook and a six step accident procedure.

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Tamberlin Plumbing Pty Ltd

Company vehicle policy

Who drives the vans, what private use is allowed, and what to do about fines and accidents.

Prepared by
Director
Date
6 December 2027
Company vehicle policy, Tamberlin Plumbing Pty Ltd, ABN 63 208 417 552Page 2 of 4
Company vehicle policy, Tamberlin Plumbing Pty Ltd, ABN 63 208 417 552Page 3 of 4
Company vehicle policy, Tamberlin Plumbing Pty Ltd, ABN 63 208 417 552Page 4 of 4
1
Purpose and scope
Tamberlin Plumbing runs 12 fitted service vans in Adelaide for 15 plumbers and 3 apprentices, and most of them take a van home so they can start on site. The vans carry tools and stock worth about $18,000 each and display the company name, so how they are driven and used matters to customers, to insurance and to tax. This policy applies to every employee who drives a company van.
2
Eligible drivers
You may drive a company van only if all of the following apply:
1.
You hold a current full licence, or a provisional licence held for at least 12 months with the Director's written approval.
2.
The office has sighted your licence at the start of employment, and you show it again each January and July.
3.
You tell the office the same day if your licence is suspended, cancelled or restricted, or you lose demerit points.
4.
You have completed the van induction: loading, the load restraint system, the weekly check and the accident procedure.
5.
You are fit to drive: not affected by alcohol, drugs, medication or fatigue.
3
Private use rules
Each van is designed mainly to carry tools and goods, so under the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 its private use is exempt from fringe benefits tax only while that use is limited to travel between home and work, travel incidental to work, and other private use that is minor, infrequent and irregular. To stay inside that exemption, and inside the ATO's safe harbour in PCG 2018/3, these rules apply:
Driving between home and work, and stopping on the way for fuel or a coffee, is allowed.
A detour of no more than 2 km from the usual route, such as collecting a child from school on the way home, is allowed.
Other wholly private trips, such as taking rubbish to the tip, are allowed occasionally, but must total less than 1,000 km in the FBT year (1 April to 31 March) and no single return trip may exceed 200 km.
No weekend or holiday trips, no towing private trailers or boats, and no moving house except with the Director's approval.
Only employees and customers ride in the van, except family carried on an allowed private trip.
4
The logbook
Every trip is recorded in the logbook app on the van's tablet: date, start and end odometer, kilometres and purpose, with wholly private trips flagged. The office reviews each van's private kilometres on the first working day of every month and tells the driver if they are approaching 1,000 km for the year. Each driver records the odometer reading on 31 March, the end of the FBT year. Logbooks are kept for 5 years.
Example entry
Purpose
Kilometres
Home to first job
Home to work
14
Job to supplier to job
Work
23
Last job to home
Home to work
18
Home to tip and back
Private, flagged
32
Day total
87
5
Fines and tolls
The company is the registered owner, so it receives every infringement notice. It nominates the driver within the time the notice allows, using the logbook and the van tracking, and the driver then pays the fine and carries any demerit points. Parking fines incurred on a job where no legal parking was available are paid by the company if the driver photographed the site and told the office the same day. Tolls on work trips are paid through the van tag. Three fines in 12 months, or any fine for phone use or drink driving, leads to a review of whether the driver keeps a van.
6
Accidents
If you are involved in a crash, however small:
1.
Stop, turn on hazard lights and make the scene safe; call 000 if anyone is hurt or the road is blocked.
2.
Exchange names, addresses, licence and registration details with the other drivers.
3.
Photograph the vehicles, the scene and any damage before anything is moved, if it is safe to.
4.
Do not admit fault or agree to pay; leave that to the insurer.
5.
Report to police when the law requires it, for example when someone is injured.
6.
Phone the office within 1 hour, and complete the incident form in the app within 24 hours.
Who pays the excess
The company pays the insurance excess for accidents in the course of work. If a crash happened while the driver was affected by alcohol or drugs, using a phone, or on an unauthorised private trip, the company may ask the driver to contribute up to $1,000. Any deduction from pay is made only with the driver's written agreement, as section 324 of the Fair Work Act 2009 requires.
7
Care of the van
Drivers do a weekly check of tyres, lights, oil, coolant and the load restraints and log it in the app. Vans are serviced every 15,000 km or 12 months. Stock and tools are locked away overnight, nothing is left visible in the cab, and no one smokes or vapes in a van. The fuel card is for the assigned van only and never for private vehicles.
8
Breaches and review
Breaking this policy may lead to loss of van privileges and action under the disciplinary procedure. The Director reviews this policy every year before 1 April and whenever fringe benefits tax rules or the ATO's guidance on eligible vehicles change.

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Cover
Panel cover with the company, title, purpose line and date.
1 and 2. Scope and eligible drivers
12 vans, 18 drivers and five conditions for driving.
3. Private use rules
The FBT exemption and five rules matching PCG 2018/3.
4. The logbook
What every trip records, monthly checks and a sample day adding to 87 km.
5. Fines and tolls
Driver nomination, a parking exception and a three fines review.
6. Accidents
Six steps and a callout on excess and pay deductions.
7 and 8. Care of the van, breaches and review
Weekly checks, servicing, security and yearly review before 1 April.

How to adapt this document

First, check that your vehicles really are eligible: a dual cab ute or a van with seats behind the driver may not be, and then the limits in clause 3 do not create an exemption. Second, set the driver conditions to match your insurance policy exactly, including age and licence type. Third, if your staff do not take vehicles home, replace clause 3 with a pool booking rule and keep the fines and accident clauses unchanged.

Which law the terms follow

The private use rules follow the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, which exempts limited private use of eligible vehicles, and the ATO's Practical Compliance Guideline 2018/3, which sets the 1,000 km, 200 km and 2 km safe harbour figures. Deductions from pay follow section 324 of the Fair Work Act 2009. Road rules, fines and nomination periods come from the state where the vans are registered, here South Australia.

What makes this document work

Private use rules written to the tax test

Clause 3 turns the ATO's safe harbour into plain rules: home to work is fine, a detour of no more than 2 km is fine, and wholly private trips must total under 1,000 km in the FBT year with no return trip over 200 km. Drivers know the limit, and the business keeps its vans exempt.

A logbook example that adds up

The sample day shows four entries, 14, 23, 18 and 32 km, adding to 87 km, with the trip to the tip flagged as private. The office checks private kilometres monthly and warns a driver approaching 1,000 km, so a problem is caught before 31 March, not after.

Excess deductions follow the law

The callout says the company pays the excess for work accidents, may ask a driver to contribute up to $1,000 after a crash involving alcohol, a phone or an unauthorised trip, and deducts it only with written agreement, as section 324 of the Fair Work Act 2009 requires.

Questions people ask

Is a work van taken home subject to fringe benefits tax?

Not if it is an eligible vehicle, such as a van designed mainly to carry goods, and private use is limited to home to work travel, travel incidental to work and minor, infrequent and irregular private use. If private use goes beyond that, the van's private use becomes a fringe benefit and the employer pays the tax.

What is the ATO safe harbour for private use of a work van?

Practical Compliance Guideline 2018/3 lets employers treat private use as minor, infrequent and irregular when, among other conditions, wholly private trips total less than 1,000 km in the FBT year and no return private trip exceeds 200 km, and detours add no more than 2 km. The employer also needs a policy limiting private use.

Can an employer deduct a speeding fine from wages?

Only with the employee's written authorisation, and only where the deduction is principally for the employee's benefit or otherwise allowed. Section 324 of the Fair Work Act 2009 controls deductions. The simpler route, which this policy uses, is to nominate the driver on the notice so the fine and demerit points go to them directly.

Does a company need a logbook for an FBT exempt van?

The ATO says special records are not required for the exemption, but the employer must be able to show that use met the limited private use conditions. A trip log with private trips flagged is the easiest evidence, and it also helps nominate drivers for fines and check fuel card use.

Can apprentices drive company vans?

They can if the policy allows it and the insurer agrees. This policy requires a full licence, or a provisional licence held for at least 12 months with the Director's written approval, plus the van induction. Check your insurance terms, since some policies charge a higher excess for young or provisional drivers.

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