A day in the life of a fleet manager

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Andrew Hill • Apr 07, 2014 • Fleet management

Fleet managers are responsible for all vehicles owned or leased by their company or organisation. You might not even realise it, but if your business runs any cars or vans, they represent part of the fleet market. To get the best financial and practical results for their business, while also caring for the safety and needs of the drivers, a fleet manager must explore the best ways to spend their time.

Over the last few decades, the UK fleet management market has developed to become a complex and sometimes confusing industry. Fleets can vary wildly in terms of size and requirements, and fleet managers must juggle administrative duties, budget management and vehicle operations. There is no one ideal way to run a business fleet, as different companies will require different qualities from their fleets. However, we’ve compiled some key tasks involved in a fleet manager’s daily life.

Managing Budget

A survey by fleet management firm Alphabet found that 60% of organisations cited understanding and controlling fleet costs as a key priority. Clever business vehicle strategies require a fleet manager to have complete control over vehicle funding arrangements, maintenance plans, driver training, and fleet mileage and fuel use. The fleet industry moves quickly, and innovative companies need to maintain dialogue with other industry players to keep abreast of current fleet trends.

Both private companies and the public sector need to manage their budgets carefully. The NHS, local authorities, government departments, housing associations, education and not for profit organisations all need fleet professionals to manage a variety of work vehicles. Today’s public sector professionals are under increasingly high pressure to control costs. Chancellor George Osborne confirmed in his recent Budget speech that the cuts in public spending would be continuing through till the end of the next parliament, stating: “Securing Britain’s economic future means there will have to be more hard decisions; more cuts.” This means that many organisations need to consider cost-cutting for the foreseeable future, making intelligent fleet management a necessity.

Managing Drivers

New research suggests that a lack of driver education could risk fleets breaking the law, making driver training and education another vital part of a fleet manager’s responsibilities. The Motor Prosecutions White Paper by insurer Allianz Commercial and legal firm DAC Beachcroft revealed that only 13% of respondents educated their employees on safe driving, and only 16% were aware of the business implications if an employee was is involved in an accident. Company drivers are 40 to 50% more likely to have a collision than the average driver, making safety training an essential part of any fleet manager’s day.

Of the 400 fleet managers and company car drivers surveyed, the white paper found that 46% of fleet managers and business car drivers were unaware of what legally constitutes dangerous driving, while 50% also admitted ignorance of the legal penalties for this offence. Not only can road accidents ruin lives, but if an employee causes a collision their company can suffer damage to reputation, investigations by the Health & Safety Executive and possible charges of corporate manslaughter. Dangerous driving can therefore reflect on a business in a whole host of ways, and all business fleet managers should be taking strong measures to reduce this risk.

Managing Vehicles

Fleet managers also need to perform the essential task of keeping their vehicles in working condition. This includes arranging purchase or leasing agreements, booking MOTs and overseeing other maintenance. There are near endless potential reasons for vehicles to need expensive and time consuming repairs – for instance, almost 45% of UK fleets have had their vehicles damaged by potholes this winter, a TrackCompare poll reveals.

Vehicle rental companies often include maintenance and servicing within their fleet management packages, and benefit from economy of scale – with large fleets of vehicles to repair, they will have established connections with garages or even their own mechanics. Leasing can also mean that a replacement vehicle can be provided, significantly reducing vehicle downtime in your business.

At Burnt Tree Vehicle Rental, we aim to keep our business customers on the road at all times. We make all servicing and maintenance as quick and painless as possible, sending our engineers to you or replacing any vehicles taken in for servicing. For more details about our all-inclusive rental solutions, get in touch - we’re always happy to help.

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