A red-light or speed-camera ticket lands on your desk three weeks after the fact. It's addressed to the company, because the bus or van is registered to the company. It has a date, a time, a place and a photo of the back of the vehicle — but not the driver's face. Now someone in the office has to work out who was driving the company vehicle when the ticket was issued, decide whether to pay it, contest it or pass it on, and do all that before the due date.
With spare buses, substitutes and drivers who swap vehicles, that can take an afternoon. Here's a simple way to handle it every time.
Why camera tickets are different
When a police officer stops a driver, the ticket has the driver's name on it. A camera ticket on a company vehicle is different: in many places it's sent to the registered owner — your company — by mail, often weeks later. Some places let the owner name the driver (usually on a form that comes with the notice); others simply hold the owner responsible for the fine. Parking tickets and unpaid toll notices work much the same way.
Either way, the clock starts when the notice is issued, not when it reaches the right person.
Step 1: Log the notice the day it arrives
- Write down the vehicle (plate or fleet number), the date and time on the notice, where it happened, the kind (speeding, red light, parking, toll), the ticket number, who issued it, the fine and the due date.
- Scan or photograph the notice and keep it with that record.
- Put the due date somewhere someone will see it — a calendar, a reminder, a list that's checked every week.
Tip: Read the back of the notice. It usually says how to pay, how to contest, and whether you can name the driver — and the deadline for each.
Step 2: Who was driving the company vehicle when the ticket was issued?
For a school bus, the fastest way to find who was driving the company vehicle when the ticket was issued is the route. Buses run on a timetable, so the run the vehicle was on at that time tells you the driver. Check in this order:
| Check | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| The route run at that time | If the bus was on a morning or afternoon run within the ticket's time, the driver of that run was driving. |
| A substitute that day | If the usual driver was off, the substitute who covered that run is the one to ask — not the usual driver. |
| Who had the vehicle that day | Outside route times (a field trip, a trip to the shop, a spare bus), the driver assigned to the vehicle that day is your best lead. |
| Timesheets and clock-ins | Who was clocked in, and on which run, backs up the answer. |
| Fuel and inspection records | A fill-up or pre-trip that day puts a driver with the vehicle. |
Whatever you find, show the driver the notice and photo before you decide anything.
Step 3: Decide whose fault it was
Not every ticket is the driver's fault. A parking ticket at a school that told you to wait there, or a toll notice for a transponder that wasn't working, may be the company's problem. Decide case by case, write the decision down, and keep it with the ticket.
Can an employer charge an employee for a traffic ticket?
This is where you need to be careful. Can an employer charge an employee for a traffic ticket? Often the answer is "yes, but not by simply taking it out of their paycheck." Wage laws differ from state to state:
- Many states limit or forbid deductions from wages that the employee hasn't agreed to in writing — and some don't allow fines to be deducted at all.
- Even where a deduction is allowed, it usually can't take pay below minimum wage for that pay period.
- The safest route is a written policy drivers sign when they start (in the handbook, for example), plus the driver's written authorization for each deduction — or asking the driver to pay the fine themselves.
Put your ticket policy in your driver handbook — the free school bus driver handbook template has pay and conduct sections to add it to.
Step 4: Watch the deadlines
- The due date — late fees can be added once it passes, and an unpaid ticket can lead to bigger problems with the vehicle's registration in some places.
- The window to contest or name a driver — often shorter than the due date. Miss it and the choice may be gone.
- Payroll timing — if the driver agreed to repay it from wages, note which pay period it counts in.
Fleet traffic violation tracking that doesn't depend on memory
Good fleet traffic violation tracking comes down to one list with every ticket, who was driving, the fine, the due date, the decision and what (if anything) was charged. A spreadsheet works for a handful a year. Once tickets come in every month, and answering who was driving the company vehicle when the ticket was issued takes half an hour each time, you want something that already knows your routes and your vehicles.
Doing it in FleetCommander
FleetCommander keeps violations under Incidents › Violations (office staff only), and on each vehicle's page under Records › Violations and each driver's page under Violations. Press Manage › Add violation, choose the Vehicle, and enter the Date and time, Kind (Speeding, Red light, Parking, Unpaid toll, Equipment or inspection, Other), Ticket number, Where, Issued by, Fine, Due and Status. Then attach the ticket's photo or PDF on its page.
Leave Driver on Work it out, and when you save, FleetCommander finds who was driving: the driver of the route run the vehicle was on at that time (within 45 minutes of the run, on a school day by its school's calendar — not a snow day or a break — with a substitute covering that day counted first), or otherwise the driver who had the vehicle that day, from the vehicle's Driver history. You can always choose the driver yourself.
On the violation's page, people who can edit drivers choose Whose fault? and, when it's the driver's, what to Charge to the driver, the pay period it counts in and a Note to the driver. The driver is told and sees it on My Day under Violations charged to you. FleetCommander never changes anyone's pay: the charge shows as Charged to drivers on the Driver hours & pay report for whoever runs payroll (see driver attendance and pay). The people who edit incidents are reminded 14 and 3 days before an open fine is due, and the Compliance Center has a Violations to deal with card for fines overdue or due soon and violations whose fault isn't decided yet. The Incidents guide has every step.
Office staff can also ask Ava (Beta), the assistant built into FleetCommander. Try Which fines are due?, Violations charged to drivers, Who had bus 102 last month? or Driver history for bus 102 — she answers from your own records and links the page with the details. She never shows violations to drivers. See her page for more.
For the bigger picture on keeping drivers' time and pay straight, see School bus driver time clock, and for crashes rather than tickets, What to do after a school bus accident.
Good to know: Traffic-camera rules, who is liable for a ticket, and whether a fine can be deducted from wages all depend on your state and city. Check your state's wage laws and talk to your accountant or attorney before charging a driver.
Questions people ask
- Who pays a camera ticket on a company vehicle?
- In many places the notice goes to the registered owner — the company — and the owner is responsible unless the rules let you name the driver. Whether you then pass the cost on to the driver depends on your policy and your state's wage laws.
- Can an employer deduct a traffic ticket from an employee's paycheck?
- Only where state law allows it, and usually only with the employee's written authorization — some states don't allow it at all. Asking the driver to pay the fine directly avoids the problem.
- How do I find out who was driving a company vehicle on a certain day?
- Check which route run the vehicle was on at that time and who drove it (including any substitute), then who had the vehicle that day, and back it up with timesheets, fuel and inspection records.