4.18 SCL – Transportation Services
Purpose
As a provider of transportation services, Open Door desires to provide efficient, safe, and reliable transportation to all individuals served. Quality transportation services include:
- Availability of transportation for individual needs as defined in Person-Centered Plan
- Well trained, responsible drivers
- Vehicles that are maintained in safe working order and adaptive to individual needs
- An efficient, accurate billing and reimbursement system
Recruitment, Hiring, and Employment Procedures
Individuals hired for all direct contact positions may be subject to verification that they have:
- No more than 4 points on their current driving record for minor violations
- No major violations resulting in four points (ie: reckless operation, DUI, hit/run)
- Current liability insurance meeting state specifications
- Daily access to vehicle that meets the transportation needs of the individual served
- Acceptable Vehicle inspection
- Free from substance abuse through drug screening as per personnel policy
Employees who are convicted of traffic violation during the course of employment are required to report the incident to the Human Resources Department within five days of the conviction.
All Open Door employee driver’s records are pulled by HR department at least semi-annually for on-going monitoring. If during the course of employment, the driving record is deemed unacceptable, it may result in employee being transferred to another position during overnight hours only or termination of employment if their BMV meets stated requirements for termination. (see Policy 2.01.2)
During the course of employment, Open Door employees are required to be responsible for violations and payments for moving violations, parking tickets, and red light camera violations, if occurs in company vehicles when they are operating them.
Staff Training Procedures
Newly hired staff responsible for transportation will receive training and driving practice in:
- Reserving Open Door vehicles
- Driving Open Door vehicles
- Safe operation of the wheelchair lift, wheelchair tie downs, and other adaptive equipment
- Handling road emergencies or accidents
- Use of mobile phones, devices
- Use of first aid kit
- Location and use of fire extinguisher
Company Vehicle Procedures
Open Door vehicles are inspected by the Ohio State Patrol through coordination with Open Door Fleet Management annually. Company vehicles may be signed out through Transportation services department. All vehicles are equipped with first aid kit, fire extinguisher, emergency supplies, notebook with all needed emergency information. Open Door is responsible for paying for fuel for company vehicles.
Before driving vehicles, staff will do a safety check on all areas of vehicle. Any repairs needed to Open Door vehicle will be reported immediately to the Incident hotline and a Vehicle Service Request submitted online through Open Door website employee hub.
In the event of an accident while operating Open Door vehicles:
- If injuries noted or possible, call 911 immediately
- Call Incident Hotline
- Write incident report and employee accident report
- Incident Hotline notifies Transportation for assessment of damages
- Employee must be sent for drug screening as instructed by Incident Hotline
- Call law enforcement for report.
- Before leaving scene, employee must have name, address, phone number for the other party involved, location of accident, license plate number of vehicles involved, and insurance information from other party involved.
Service Availability and Suitability Procedures
Individuals should be transported to destinations as per Person-centered plan. Excessive transportation requests or those not a part of the Person-centered plan should be reviewed by team.
Whenever possible, individuals should participate in their own errands to grocery, banking, shopping, etc. Where common destinations occur, a standardized mileage guide will be used.
Employee Reimbursement Procedures
When utilizing Company vehicles, the Open Door vehicle logs and mileage must be documented. The employee receives no reimbursement when using company vehicles.
When using personal vehicles for Open Door transportation, employees must document the Mileage Reimbursement documentation completely in electronic system.
After verification and approval of mileage documentation, employees may be reimbursed at the pre-determined Open Door annual mileage rate.
Motorist Observation Reports
Maximizing Safety while Minimizing Risks, Liability, and Costs are a high priority for Open Door. Open Door evaluates driving scorecards for follow-up frequently.
- Open Door GPS safety tracking devices in company vehicles.
- Employees may receive disciplinary action for unsafe or reckless operations of vehicles during working hours.
- Employees will follow GPS device instructions when utilizing routing optimization software for vehicles.
Billing
Open Door will only bill for transportation services provided as per the individual person-centered plan. Quality Improvement team will audit and review the transport logs and billing to verify compliance with plans and authorizations frequently. Any discrepancies will be reported through documentation to supervisors or Executive staff.
Last Revised: 8/25/21
