man looking over glasses

Are you a fleet transformer?

Choices, choices everywhere

You want the fleet that not only does the business for your business, but makes good financial sense too. You probably already know that this means staying on top of your ever-changing fleet needs. A new route there, a downsize there, and a changing remit somewhere else.

And that’s not to mention other concerns like keeping an eye on what ever-declining CO2 emission thresholds mean in terms of your vehicle mix, or what the knock-on impact the up-up-upward movement of fuel prices means.

Lucky for you, we can take some of your forehead-slapping fleet pain away. We’ve got a shiny parade of helpful stuff to get you thinking along the right lines.

Still here? Good – here’s some other grist for your mind-mill.

Get data and use it
To keep your fleet in optimum shape, you need to know what’s going on. That means data. And the easiest way to collect information on mileage, routes, speed and overall fleet performance is through telematics (black box) technology. (Or you could stand on a lot of street corners with a big clipboard.)

Don’t stop with just a row of pretty numbers. Use the data to create useful metrics for your business. Things like driver performance measurements, fuel consumption information, irrefutable proof that it really is faster to take that B-road instead of the GPS-elected motorway route.

Set your standards high
Got the hard facts, got the metrics lined up. Then get a clear fix on where you’ve got spare capacity and silos of inefficiency.  Make changes and tweaks.

And then set your Service Level Agreements at an appropriately ambitious level. That means improving your promise to customers – promising a 1 hour delivery slot instead of a 3 hour window, for example – as well as minimizing your off-road or downtime.

Get involved
Eliminate inefficiencies, get the right-sized fleet, make your customers happy. That all sounds fantastic – but it may also sound like a lot of work. Chances are, you’ve got other fish to fry. There’s only so much of your bandwidth that’s dedicated to your fleet.

(And we haven’t even started on the wonderful world of benefit-in-kind tax laws and National Insurance contributions and VAT recovery rates.  Your duty of care responsibilities too. Then there’s factoring in the sports cars that HR has decided to give every new employee, and that overdue visit from the Corporate and Social Responsibility team to find out how the fleet meets corporate CSR mandates. Yikes.)

Of course, having a good partner helps with all this (Ahem – we know one). We have consultants to walk you through the issues, and plenty of resources, reports and regular updates to keep you informed.

So, a lot to consider. Lots to know, a changing regulatory landscape, and the challenge of keeping your fleet in step with your company’s priorities and plans. It’s good to have key information at your fingertips, but that doesn’t have to mean making fleet management your specialist subject on Mastermind. That’s our job.

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