PROACTIVE managers can bring big cost savings and much greater control to their fleet operations through the internet and new technology according to a leading US fleet chief.

Speaking at the Fleet News UK Congress, Shirley Collins, fleet and insurance services manager for global medical products giant Glaxo Wellcome, revealed that she had slashed more than £1 million in a single year from her fleet running costs through the use of internet-based technology.

Glaxo Wellcome has helped pioneer the use of key supplier Arval PHH's InterActive service on its 4,800-vehicle fleet. Launched in the UK earlier this year, the service is used as a reference for billing information, to check the status of ordered vehicles, as the home of the driver database, as a bespoke reporting tool and for creating fuel use analysis reports.

By minimising unnecessary paperwork and providing information to drivers over the internet, the fleet department has taken on two new roles, covering insurance and driver training, without needing more staff. Collins told delegates: 'If anyone has bought anything over the internet, then you are already involved in e-commerce. It is just a matter of expanding that to fleet management and then using it to your advantage.

'E-commerce will streamline your processes and cut down on paperwork, which will also help other areas of the company, such as human resources. It will also improve efficiency and accuracy, because information will not have to be keyed into a computer more than once.

'You also have access to information that can be turned into your own reports, and because it is internet based, that can be done anywhere in the world.'

The internet and the company intranet have become the first point of contact for all fleet-related enquiries, stripping a huge burden from the fleet department. Driver information, handbooks, choice lists, driver manuals and safety manuals are all intranet-based, while the firm also offers used vehicles for sale through the site. Accident management information, from the first notification of an accident, is electronic. The next steps for the firm include the investigation of telematics technology, which will allow them to ensure that drivers are using their time on the road to best effect.

Collins added that the firm was also using technology to reduce the need to travel altogether, with teleconferencing facilities at many of its offices throughout the world.