Bus-46, Use of University Vehicle Policy

UC Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-46,
Use of University Vehicles
8/1/94

I. PURPOSES

This Bulletin establishes the basic guidelines governing the use of
University vehicles.

II. REFERENCES

A. Policy on Use of University Vehicles, February 28, 1978.

B. Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-8, Acquisition and
Disposition of University Vehicles.

C. Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-19, Registration and
Licensing of University-owned Vehicles.

D. Business and Finance Bulletin G-28, Policy and Regulations
Governing Travel.

E. Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-35, Vehicle Accident
Reporting and Claims Procedures.

F. Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-69, Vehicle Physical Damage
Self-Insurance Program.

G. Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-73, Workers Compensation
Self-Insurance Program.

H. Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-75, General and Automobile
Liability Self-Insurance Program.

I. Business and Finance Bulletin A-47, University Direct Costing
Procedures.

J. University Policy Concerning Executive Automobiles, 1988.

K. Delegation of Authority--Third Party Agreements, University
Vanpool Programs from the President to the Chancellors, Senior
Vice President-Business and Finance, and Directors of Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory,
March 31, 1992.

L. University of California Guidelines on Drivers and Drivers'
Public Driving Records, June 24, 1989.

M. California Commercial Motor Vehicles Safety Act of 1988.

N. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

III. USE OF UNIVERSITY VEHICLES

A. Registration and Identification

1. University vehicles, including those operated by the
Associated Students and other University-related
organizations, shall be registered in the name of the
University of California and licensed in accordance
with Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-19, Registration and
Licensing of University-owned Vehicles.

2. University vehicles, except executive vehicles and vehicles
used for special purposes (i.e, undercover police cars and
authorized rideshare vehicles), shall be conspicuously
identified as the property of the University of California
to be operated for official use only. Identification shall
be achieved by use of a decal or other device attached to
the front and/or rear of each vehicle. The decals or other
devices shall be standardized on a Universitywide basis.

3. No other decals, stickers, or other signs, including dealer-
identified license plate holders, shall be placed on any
University vehicle, except that a Chancellor may authorize
exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

B. Official Use

1. University vehicles shall be used only for official University
business.

2. Responsibility for determining, authorizing, and controlling
official use is the responsibility of the Chancellors and
designee(s).

3. The use of privately owned vehicles for University business is
generally encouraged, and Business and Finance Bulletin G-28,
Policy and Regulations Governing Travel, should be consulted
regarding applicable travel and insurance regulations.

4. University vehicles shall not be used regularly for
transportation between personal residences and University
campuses or other work locations, except those vehicles:

a. assigned to senior University executives (see University
Policy Concerning Executive Automobiles);

b. used in conjunction with authorized ridesharing programs
which include, but are not limited to, vanpools, carpools,
buspools, and guaranteed ride home programs; or

c. used occasionally for transportation to and from personal
residences in connection with departure and return from
official University business trips, when the appropriate
department official has determined that such use is more
efficient and economical than available alternatives.

5. Any use of a vehicle for transportation between home and office,
other than those stated above, must be specifically authorized
in advance and in writing by the Chancellor as an exception to
this policy and justified by a special and/or frequent work
requirement of the University which cannot reasonably be met by
other means of transportation. Drivers using vehicles under
this section shall be subject to campus parking regulations.

C. Drivers

1. Authorized drivers shall include faculty, staff, students, and
non-University persons, including consultants, provided they
have been approved by the appropriate campus official, and the
vehicle use is for official University business. As provided
by the Delegation of Authority--Third Party Agreements,
University Vanpool Programs, March 31, 1992, non-University
participants in University sponsored ridesharing programs may
be authorized to drive University-owned vehicles if they meet
program criteria.

2. Drivers shall hold the valid license/endorsements for the type
of vehicle to be used and shall have successfully completed
any driver training/safety course required by the campus or
State/Federal law, except that short-term (less than 2 weeks)
visitors/guests who use a vehicle only for the duration of
their stay, and University employees who use a vehicle
infrequently (i.e, for occasional travel, emergency
departmental needs, etc.) are exempt from the training/safety
course requirement.

3. No vehicle will be released by fleet operation unless it has
been verified that the proposed driver has been authorized,
holds the valid license/endorsement for the type of vehicle to
be used, and meets all other requirements.

4. No vehicle assigned to a department on a periodic basis will be
driven unless it has been verified by the appropriate
department official that the proposed driver holds a valid
license for the vehicle to be used, and meets all other
requirements.

5. Each campus shall obtain, from the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) pull notice system, a periodic report of each
drivers' public drivers, for any other University employees
who routinely drive a University vehicle in the course of
their regular employment and for all drivers of University-
owned rideshare vehicles. Criminal penalties may be assigned
against the University for hiring, continuing to employ, or
permitting to continue to operate as a driver, any person who
has had a disqualifying action taken against his/her license
or certificate (i.e, DMV suspension or revocation).

6. All drivers of University-owned rideshare vehicles, which
require a Class B or C license and other specialized vehicles
shall be required to pass a physical examination every two
years.

7. All drivers of University-owned rideshare vehicles shall
authorize the University to review their driving records by
means of the DMV's pull notice system.

D. Fleet Operations

1. Each Chancellor shall establish a fleet operation unit to
manage all University-owned and operated vehicles at that
campus.

2. The fleet operation shall be responsible for establishing all
vehicle rental rates. Such rates shall be established at
levels sufficient to recover all allowable costs of operation
and may be set at levels sufficient to establish a reserve for
vehicle and other equipment acquisition and/or replacement,
and facility renovation and/or construction. As appropriate,
fees charged to Federal contract accounts must be in
accordance with A- 47, University Direct Costing Procedures.

3. The fleet operation shall be responsible for the acquisition,
inspection, and record keeping for all general purpose
vehicles, including those assigned for long-term use to other
departments, and specialized vehicles, as appropriate.

4. The fleet operation shall be responsible for the legally
mandated emission testing of all University-owned vehicles, at
that campus, including those rented/operated by other
departments on a long-term basis.

5. The fleet operation shall assign general purpose vehicles to
most users on a trip-by-trip basis. However, departments may
be assigned a vehicle on a long-term rental basis if such
assignment serves the department needs more efficiently and
economically than any alternative. Such exceptional
assignments must be approved by the Chancellor or designee and
renewed on an annual basis. A copy of the department's
request for assignment and the appropriate approval will be
maintained by the fleet operation.

6. The fleet operation shall be responsible for the maintenance
and service of all general purpose vehicles including those
assigned to a department on a long-term basis. Long-term user
departments shall be required to adhere to maintenance
schedules established by the fleet facility unless different
arrangements are approved in writing by the Chancellor or
designee. Vehicles at field offices or remote locations
may be excluded from this requirement by special approval of
the Chancellor or designee.

Maintenance and servicing of specialized vehicles shall be the
responsibility of the user department unless such
responsibility is specifically transferred by the user
department to the fleet operation.

7. Specialized vehicles (i.e, mobile clinics, fire apparatus,
waste collection vehicles, fork lifts, farm tractors, and
motor scooters), if used by a single department, may be
designated by the Chancellor or designee for permanent
assignment to that department.

E. Procedures for Vehicle Use

1. Each campus shall establish procedures to identify properly
authorized, trained, and licensed drivers, and to provide a
record of each trip. In developing campus policies and
procedures, the following items should be considered:

a. delegations of authority to appropriate department
officials;

b. procedures for authorizing and controlling vehicle use;

c. provisions regarding certain types of use (i.e,
out-of-state, foreign travel, various rideshare programs)
or certain types of users (i.e, students or non-University
employees);

d. requirements for reporting vehicle accidents and moving
violations;

e. requirements of the DMV pull notice system; and

f. programs to foster traffic safety consciousness.

2. Departments with assigned vehicles and departments responsible
for rideshare vehicles shall maintain records which document
vehicle users and uses and which demonstrate compliance with
State and Federal laws and University policies and procedures.
Usage reports shall be prepared periodically, but at least
annually, and sent to the fleet operation and to other
appropriate campus administrative officials, and shall be
reviewed to verify both the proper use and the continued need
for the assignment of such vehicles.

3. Each campus shall establish methods to inform vehicle users of
their responsibilities and of the limits of appropriate use.

4. Each campus shall establish procedures for reviewing instances
of possible misuse of a vehicle by drivers and/or responsible
authorizing officials, and shall take appropriate action up to
and including termination of employment. Such action may
include a requirement for reimbursement of costs incurred by
the University through misuse; withdrawing or limiting
permission to use a University fleet vehicle; and/or canceling
authority to authorize use of vehicles. Reimbursement
for any associated costs may be obtained from the driver, the
authorizing official, and/or the budget of the
using/responsible department.

F. Insurance

University insurance programs provide coverage for the following:

1. The University's General and Automobile Liability Self-
Insurance Program, Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-73,
covers personal injury and property damage to others which is
caused by University vehicles when they are operated in the
course of official University business, including authorized
ridesharing programs. This coverage is in effect whether or
not the driver is a University employee.

2. Workers' Compensation Self-Insurance Program, Business and
Finance Bulletin BUS-73, covers personal injuries to
University employees resulting from vehicle accidents
occurring during the course of authorized trips on official
University business.

3. Workers' Compensation Self-Insurance Program; Business and
Finance Bulletin BUS-73; covers employees for injuries
sustained during the direct round-trip commute between home and
the authorized worksite for all University employees
participating in vanpools, buspools, guaranteed ride home
programs, and other ridesharing programs utilizing University
vehicles.

4. University's Vehicle Physical Damage Self-Insurance Program,
Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-69, covers general purpose,
rideshare, and specialized vehicles administered by the fleet
operation or by other University departments. Costs for
damages due to the careless operation or intentional misuse of
vehicles shall not be recovered through this Program.

University insurance programs do not provide coverage for the
following:

(1) Personal injuries sustained by non-University employees
driving University vanpools.

(2) Personal injuries sustained by students and non-University
individuals driving general purpose vehicles.

When damage to a University vehicle is caused by a third party,
the University will attempt to recover full damage costs from the
third party.

Payment/reimbursement of all costs associated with the damage to
any University vehicle resulting from misuse or careless
operation by an authorized driver shall be from the driver, or
the departmental budget, contract, or grant of the authorizing
official. Such costs shall not be covered by University
insurance programs.

G. Traffic/Parking Citations

1. Traffic/parking citations shall not be paid from any source of
University funds.

2. The driver of a University vehicle is responsible for the
payment of any traffic/parking citations incurred on or off
University property during the time that said driver is
responsible for the operations of the vehicle. University
parking citations have the same legal authorization as those
issued by municipal or State law enforcement authorities.

3. Guidelines on preparing reports of moving violations and on
disciplining repeated violators can be found in University
Guidelines on Drivers and Drivers' Public Driver Records.

H. Alternative Transportation Programs

1. The University of California encourages all campuses to offer
ridesharing programs (i.e, vanpools, carpools, buspools,
guaranteed ride home programs, etc.), to encourage use of
public transit, and to participate in transportation
management organizations or other appropriate cooperative
arrangements for the purposes of furthering such activities.

2. To ensure growth in ridesharing programs and use of public
transit, specific incentives may be developed. Such
incentives may include, but are not limited to, the following:
discounted rates for riders, cash compensation for drivers,
personal use mileage for drivers, guaranteed ride-home
programs, transit pass subsidies, and use of University
vehicles (those assigned to a department on a long-term basis)
as authorized carpool vehicles in conjunction with ridesharing
programs.

3. Participation in University ridesharing programs by non-
University employees is permitted provided the campus
maintains signed, annually updated participant and employer
agreements outlining program elements, requirements, and
responsibilities.

4. The University supports campus development of various
guaranteed ride home programs. Such programs may include
limited use of University vehicles by public transit riders,
or participants in authorized ridesharing programs (including
non-University employees) who need to leave the work place for
emergency reasons in advance of normally scheduled departures,
or who must work late.

IV. CHANCELLOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Each Chancellor is responsible for:

1. the control and use of University vehicles under his or her
custody;

2. establishing and maintaining procedures for approving
authorized drivers;

3. appropriate campus delegations, directives, and procedures to
implement University policy;

4. the provision of supplemental campus policy as needed; and

5. forwarding a copy of campus policies and procedures which
implement this Bulletin, and any future modifications, to the
Office of the Assistant Vice President - Facilities
Administration, attention Director Business Analysis.

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