Fleet managers and other transport professionals are putting holiday plans on hold to manage high workloads and battle the effects of the credit crunch.

A Chartered Management Institute (CMI) survey of nearly 1,500 fleet and transport executives found that one in five (16%) will not take their full holiday entitlement this year.

Staff blame ‘lack of support’ from employers for postponed and cancelled holidays, citing extensive workloads (23%), as well as the need to care for dependants (28%).

Employees told the CMI that they would rather holiday be converted into a cash award or gym membership to help save money, but they faced tough resistance from employers.

Even if they do manage to get away, many transport executives will continue to work.

Nearly half (48%) regularly check work emails and 34% dial-in to pick up voicemail messages.

Jo Causon, marketing and corporate affairs director at the CMI, said: “There is clearly a fear that ‘out of sight means out of mind’ but without a proper break individual performances can suffer and employers will notice mistakes at work more than they will notice absence through holiday.

“Individuals need to recognise this and use holiday time to recharge their batteries.”