6
FLEET MANAGEMENT
SOMETIME IN THE RECENT PAST
THE FUTURE ARRIVED
Twenty years ago, fleets were managed on
manual card systems, a spreadsheet or perhaps a
simple database. Windows 3.1 was loaded from
a box full of floppy disks and a dial-up modem
was a thing of wonder. Vehicles with a driver
airbag and ABS braking were high specification;
mobile phones were analog bricks and the
prospect of holding a camera, personal GPS and
the collective knowledge of a planet in the palm
of your hand belonged in the realms of science
fiction. Sometime in the recent past the future
actually arrived.
The pace of global change is still accelerating
and society is now time poor and in stark
contrast, information rich. The dilemma for those
tasked with the responsibility for managing
fleet assets is accessing relevant information
& solutions in a meaningful, timely and cost
effective manner. With the accelerator firmly
pressed to the floor, the interval between
identification of events, changes and societal
trends is becoming increasingly compressed and
it’s more important than ever to think strategically
and long-term. The future of fleet management
will be shaped by many of the issues and
opportunities we already recognise along with a
few surprises.
and into social responsibility, Government at all
levels will play an integral part in the adoption of
new products, services, technologies and fleet
management strategies.
The Managers of Fleets are looking to meet the
broader considerations of cost reduction and
risk management. Safety, chain of responsibility
and environmental initiatives are addressed
by working under the premise that a safer
and more energy efficient mobile workplace
is good for business. It’s in the area of safety
and fuel efficiency that fleet managers have
been particularly influential in recent years,
with widespread and sustained policies for five
star ANCAP vehicles and emission reductions
making a significant difference to the car parks
throughout the country.
All fleet managers (government and private)
face the same operational challenges. The
Australasian Fleet Management Association
conducted a comprehensive survey in the first
half of 2013 to determine key fleet management
issues; the results were clear-cut across public
and private sector fleets. The number one
concern raised was cost reduction followed
closely by safety in the mobile workplace,
interestingly taxation, an issue that caused such
enormous industry chaos in the third quarter of
2013 rated in only 2.4% of responses.
Even so, cost reduction extends beyond the
delivery of safer and more efficient vehicles and
touches on funding methodologies or even the
necessity for fleet vehicles at all. Fleet funding
models and fleet profiles have been changing,
often focussing on moving non-core vehicles to
salary packaged novated leases or the payment
of vehicle allowances (using an employee’s own
private vehicle for business). The recent preelection FBT turmoil sent shockwaves through
the novated lease industry although that product
now appears to be returning to normality. The
strategy of vehicle allowances or “Grey fleet”
remains problematic for industry and as a trend
is increasingly more visible. The use of private
vehicles for business purposes represents
significant challenges for organisational chain of
responsibility in the mobile workplace. Grey fleet
is a problem because the organisation cannot
outsource its responsibility even though it has
effectively outsourced management of the vehicle.
In many aspects of our society, Government
is seen as an innovator, early adopter of
technology and an instigator of change. As a
major contributor to fleet numbers and with a
mandate that extends beyond general business
If overseas fleet numbers are an indicator,
having a company car in Australia is a luxury
not reflected globally and fleet size reductions
are likely over time. Making that wider cultural
change to a global norm could be difficult and
Govlink Issue 2 2013