FLEETS, leasing companies and dealerships can see huge savings through paperless transactions, either through the internet or electronic data interchange, an open day organised by FleetNet, the organisation set up to work for common standards in the industry, heard last week.

But the sheer number of different codes for cars and parts currently used is deterring firms from moving to electronic trading. Systems provided by companies including Oasis and Translease form an electronic link between either fleets or contract hire companies and garages and service stations, deleting the need for telephoned work authorisation and paper-based invoices. But members at the FleetNet conference heard that a massive co-ordinated effort was needed to persuade manufacturers, contract hire companies, fleets, dealerships and even salvage companies to adopt a standard set of codes for vehicles to make electronic trading simpler.

A working party has been set up by FleetNet to attempt to create a common set of codes in the UK, but Roger Kendrick, FleetNet's outgoing chairman, insisted this did not mean that FleetNet should be the organisation to administer any code. He said: 'We are not pushing the FleetNet code, but we need to agree a common set of codes. This campaign cannot survive without it.'