Fleet News roundtable: Cost and driver safety are Scottish fleets' priorities

‘Horrendous’ recharge bills from contract hire and leasing companies pers-uaded Tom Robertson to switch from leasing to capital purchase.

He is one of a growing band of fleet operators to complain about rising end-of-lease charges.

They accuse contract hire companies of inflating charges to cover shortfalls in profits.
The Fife Council transport manager says average recharges have reached £1,000 per van.

But he claims many of the items would not concern a buyer at auction.

"If there’s a small tear in the seat they want a new seat; if there’s been a minor paint spill they want it spotless,” Robertson says. “We maintain our vehicles to a high standard, but it’s not enough for them.”

Tim Muir, planning and resource manager at ECG Facilities Services, agrees.

“Contract hire companies are not following the BVRLA fair wear and tear guidelines.

"We now get them to come and inspect the vehicles to agree the condition before they go back – it means we don’t get hit with a big bill down the line.”

Standard Life will not pay the bill until it has proof the repair has taken place. John Fraser, its fleet manager, says: “Often these repairs don’t take place – the vehicle just goes to auction. We want to see digital pictures of before and after.”

Robertson adds: “If you are seen as a soft option they will hit you with it. You have to stand up to it.”

Fleets have also taken internal action to ensure vehicles are returned by drivers in a good condition.

“We have changed from charging £150 per repair bill to charging drivers for the full cost. The change in attitude has been remarkable,” says Muir.

Lynne Feeney, administrative officer at Hanover Scotland Housing Association, plans to re-charge for avoidable damage in a bid to tackle high accident rates. “We have to see a change in attitudes,” she says.

Frank McAvoy, Aviva motor fleet risk adviser, has seen several outright purchase fleets incentivise drivers to return cars in a good condition.

"They receive a percentage of the residual value margin as a cash incentive when the vehicle is disposed of – it works.”

Muir adds: “Those drivers whose vehicles come back in best condition get the first choice of the best, highest specification vehicles next time.”

Cost is the biggest driver of fleet policy and the biggest influence on cost is driver attitude.

Several fleets have introduced telematics to get better controls over their drivers.

David Lang, road transport manager at Babcock Rail, believes the safety angle is the best way to sell the concept to drivers, unions and his own board.

“We are a very unionised business so our focus was duty of care and safety,” he says.

“At worst we expected the investment to be cost neutral, but as a consequence of safer drivers we are seeing mileage fall, fuel consumption improve and accidents fall. And we are also starting to see insurance premiums come down.”

Alasdair McDougle, Aviva’s motor (fleet) regional underwriting manager for Scotland and north-east England, says all fleets can expect lower premiums if they act on the telematics data to reduce accidents.

But he adds: “There can be a downside – we are seeing some assets get sweated more because of telematics which is pushing up mileages.”

With some telematics systems including front-facing cameras that start filming under harsh braking, fleets can also ensure they all the facts should a crash result.

However, Robertson says: “If a driver has a serious accident, the police can obtain the data from the telematics system – are all fleets aware of this?”

Duty-of-care responsibilities and a growing emphasis on costs are also changing driver training attitudes.

Babcock Rail has enlisted RoSPA to carry out driver profiling.

“Those with the lowest scores go on a driver assessment course.

“We are getting such a positive reaction we are rolling it out to all our drivers,” Lang says.

Muir spends half a day on the vehicle policy with new staff as part of their induction.

They watch the RoSPA safety videos and have the vehicle’s safety features explained before they sign the policy and get the keys.

Training is only one tool. Robertson points to a robust road risk document which covers all aspects of fleet management. “Lawyers want an audit trail,” he says.

Part of this is licence checking and, for grey fleet drivers, insurance checking. “Drivers now complete a mandate and we can check their licence every week if we want,” says Lang.

McDougle adds: “Basic driver validation is one of the fundamentals of fleet management.

"This is as important on licence checking as it is insurance. It has to be the same for insurance – don’t accept it at face value, check that the certificate is still valid and that they have not defaulted on payments – it can be an issue.”

The delegates