How to review your employee driving program before 2027

Whether your 2027 budget is already final or still taking shape, the end of the year is a good time to review your employee driving program. If the budget’s set, a review shows you where to focus it. If it isn’t, it shows you what to ask for. A useful review covers five areas: vehicle spend, driver risk, field productivity, program administration and the employee experience. You don’t need to fix all five. The goal is to find the two or three changes that would matter most in 2027 

Employee driving programs, whether they run on company cars, a car allowance or mileage reimbursement, can carry forward year after year even as driver counts, fuel prices and insurance requirements change. A short annual review keeps the program aligned with the business it supports. 

The questions below come from our 2027 planning checklist [link]. Use them to start the conversation with Finance, HR and Operations. 

Is your vehicle spend still aligned with how employees drive? 

Vehicle costs can become misaligned when business needs change but employee driving programs stay the same. A reimbursement approach that fit 50 drivers may not fit 500. Employees who drive frequently for work may have different reimbursement needs than those who drive only occasionally 

Ask: 

• Has our vehicle and reimbursement spend changed meaningfully over the past year? 

• Are our reimbursement approaches still right for each driver population? 

• Are we reviewing mileage and reimbursement trends regularly, or only at budget time? 

Do you have the right visibility into driver risk throughout the year? 

Annual insurance and motor vehicle record (MVR) checks provide a snapshot of driver status. But coverage and driving records can change between reviews, potentially leaving important risks unidentified. 

Ask: 

• Are we satisfied with our current level of insurance compliance? 

• Do we have visibility into driving records between annual checks? 

• Do our policies and processes support our goals for reducing corporate liability exposure? 

How much time do employees spend on mileage reporting? 

Every hour a field employee spends logging miles is an hour away from customers. Manual processes can introduce reporting errors that affect reimbursement accuracy. Motus GPS mileage capture reduces time spent on manual mileage logging by 92%. 

Ask: 

• Are employees consistently using the tools available to them? 

• Are employees still entering mileage manually that could be captured automatically? 

Where does your team spend the most admin time? 

A program that works today should still be manageable as the company grows. Admin time tends to pile up in a few predictable places: inconsistent review processes, exceptions handled by hand and drivers who sit outside the main program. 

Ask: 

• Do we know which parts of the program take the most administrator time? 

• Are mileage reporting and review processes consistent across teams? 

• Are manual processes for some driver groups creating extra work? 

Does the program work for the employees using it? 

Employees notice when reimbursement feels inconsistent or unclear. Recurring questions to HR or managers are often the first sign that something in the program needs attention. 

Ask: 

• Do employees understand how the program works and what’s expected of them? 

• Are there recurring questions or sources of friction we could address? 

How do you turn the review into 2027 priorities? 

Pick the two or three areas with the biggest potential impact, then define each one in two parts: what you want to accomplish and how you’ll know you succeeded. 

For example: 

Specific objectives like these are easier to fund, assign and measure than a general goal to “improve the program.” 

Get the 2027 planning checklist 

The free checklist walks through every question in this post, plus space to record your top priorities and how you’ll measure them. 

Download the 2027 planning checklist