Vehicles
Acquiring and Preparing Your Research Vehicles
If you plan to rent vehicles, either from the University of Alberta Vehicle Pool or an outside rental company, visit the U of A's Transportation Services Rental Policies and Driver Authorization webpages.
You can rent most types of vehicles from the U of A Transportation Services, including passenger vans, cargo vans, crew cabs, cars, etc.
Please see this page for questions on insurance when renting vehicles for U of A business or research.
Where should you park your U of A research vehicle on Campus?
If you have a University of Alberta-owned vehicle used for researchers, you will pay monies annually to Parking Services. Here's a link to the U of A's Parking Protocol for research vehicles. Contact Parking Services to find out where you can park.
Car Sharing Program on Campus
Car sharing details on campus can be found on this Sustainability Initiatives (Parking) Webpage.
Log Books are Required
See Rental Policies and Driver Regulations information on log books. Log books are available from the Field Research Office and the Fleet Safety Officer.
Standard Operating Procedures?
It is advisable to develop Standard Operating Procedures for vehicle use for your activity, project or group.
Off-Road driving with Rented Vehicles
New drivers to the university must complete a mandatory evaluation which includes an off-road component. Please contact Fleet Safety Officer to book your evaluation.
When renting vehicles that are going to be used for off-road purposes, please note that there are exclusions on rental policies that you should be aware of. Please read the fine print and purchase extra insurance if possible.
Preparing your Drivers
Please see university driver requirements and allow enough time to provide driver's abstracts and for any training that may be needed, (e.g., defensive driving, tractor, ATV, etc.)
If your drivers are using logging roads or resource roads, these are privately owned roads and you will need to follow the companies' own policies on their use. First check with the corporation that owns the road to see if they have their own specific safety guidelines. There are resources out there on the use of resource roads such as this BC Forest Safety Council's publication on Resource Road User Safety Guide.
Arranging for Drivers or Driving Outside of Canada
University auto insurance does not extend beyond Canada and the U.S.!
The onus is on the researcher to determine insurance requirements in the country that they are renting the vehicle in and what may be included or excluded in the rental agreement. For instance, if a researcher goes to Africa and needs to hire a vehicle and driver to travel, the requirements in several zones may vary depending on who has jurisdiction (ie. National Parks or rebel-controlled territory).
A hired driver should be covered and paid by the person or business that is supplying the vehicle, however, in third world countries, this is not always the case. It is up to the researcher to determine whether there is insurance in place.
If crossing the US border with a University of Alberta owned or leased vehicle, please refer to Risk Management and Insurance page for more information and to request a a Vehicle Border Crossing Authority letter.