Fleet management is one of those services that organisations question the need for, a lot like an accountant, financial planner or gardener (not necessarily in that order). It might seem like a luxury service item that you could do yourself but, like the other specialist areas mentioned, you can benefit from the expertise and efficiencies that their extensive knowledge brings, and focus on working on your business, not in it.
A good fleet management organisation (FMO) should be ensuring that your fleet of vehicles stay on the road, are safe and is costing you as little as possible. This is achieved through a variety of channels:
- Vehicle purchasing and disposal: You and your staff don’t have the time to negotiate the sale and disposal of vehicles, so let an industry expert who does it daily take care of it for you.
- Streamlined administration: A good FMO should take over all of the administration of the fleet, looking after all the invoicing for: servicing, tyres, fuel, insurance, roadside assistance etc. Potentially saving you hundreds of hours of administration work across your entire fleet.
- Reduced Fleet costs: Purchasing power is a major advantage in using an FMO. With the thousands of vehicles they purchase and manage, they can command volume discounts From dealers which ensures better than market competitive acquisition cost for you.
- Online reporting: Do you want to know what was spent on servicing for a particular month or what you need to budget for fleet expenses over the next 4 years? A good FMO should have a full range of online reports that you can access 24/7, which makes obtaining that sort of information easy.
- Expert advice: An FMO should be a business partner with your best interests at heart. It’s their job to know all the vehicles that are available, and which are fit for purpose. And best suited to your business A good FMO should be able to show you the most suitable and cost effective cars for your particular purpose.
While fleet management itself is a stand-alone product, an FMO should also be able to offer you Novated Lease and Operating Lease with access to all of the above services too. The most crucial aspect of a good FMO is Flexibility.