Pressure to reduce costs is overtaking safety and green issues on the fleet managers’ agenda, according to new research.

Fuel prices are now top of the list, with the poor economic outlook and falling business levels coming in a close second and third.

Meanwhile, health and safety, accident prevention and the Corporate Manslaughter Act are all falling off managers’ radar screens.

The lack of focus on the Corporate Manslaughter Act follows news that there has still not been a prosecution under the new law, which has been in force for nearly 11 months (FN 19.02.09).

“A drop in mention of the Act will largely be a reflection of the lack of prosecutions to date – which reflects a lack of understanding of the way the legislation works,” explained Saul Jeavons from the Transafe Network.

“This means that a lot of fleets may be allowing focus to be drawn away from duty of care due to a false sense of security.”

The news that fleet managers may be taking their eye off driver safety has been met with dismay by risk management companies who point out that risk management and cost management go hand in hand.

RoadSafe found that introducing a road risk strategy for at-work drivers can save fleets more than £500 per vehicle annually.

“Reducing the number of crashes involving at work drivers is proven to save thousands and, in the case of large fleets, millions of pounds,” explained campaign director Caroline Scurr.

“Companies on average can cut their costs by £527 per vehicle per year.”

As well as fuel savings, companies can also expect a reduction in insurance premiums of perhaps as much as 15% a year.

“It’s important that the companies don’t forget the tangible and substantial costs savings – both economic and environmental - that can be gained by maintaining a comprehensive road risk strategy,” added David Richards DriveTech marketing director

For example, Shred-it cut its UK collision costs by two-thirds, saving almost £80,000 after embarking on a road safety crusade.

“This is a massive saving and almost straight off Shred-it’s bottom line.

"The financial savings prove that having a focus on road safety works,” said Mr Cassel, Shred-it’s operations effectiveness leader.

“I expect our 2008/9 insurance premiums to reduce as a result.”

Despite the clear link between risk and cost management, the quarterly Company Car Trends survey by GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services still found that financial concerns are causing fleet managers to lose sight of the savings effective risk management can bring.

“Concerns about money have never been more prevalent – with worries ranging from the general economic picture to specific issues such as oil and fuel prices,” said Gary Killeen, commercial leader at GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services.

“This change has pushed green and safety issues to one side but what we believe is already becoming apparent to fleet decision-makers is that all these issues go hand-in-hand.”

Despite worries over the recession, findings from the research continue to underline the overall significance of the company car to businesses, with 95.5% of respondents continuing to describe it as “important” for job-need company car drivers.