Fleet software specialist, Chevin Fleet Solutions has warned fleets that utilisation could become their top concern.

Chevin held a meeting of its offices from the US, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the UK last week, and utilisation was found to be a concern for all.

Ashley Sowerby, managing director at Chevin, said: “In a sense, this is all about taking the fleet back to basics, about seeing it as an exercise in asset management.

“If you have a company asset, the question facing the manager is how to make the most of it? If you have a car, commercial vehicle or item of plant, then ensuring that asset is utilised as fully as possible means you are getting the best value.”

According to Sowerby, in some parts of the world, there were signs that greater use was being made of pool fleets, car clubs and even car sharing.

“When you look at utilisation, the weakness of the traditional one vehicle, one user model is that quite often that vehicle sits on the car park doing very little.

“Looking at the fleet more as a transport issue tends to lead managers to trying more flexible solutions. Pool fleets are certainly an area where we have seen growth in recent years and there are signs that car clubs are finally gaining a small foothold.”

Sowerby added that fleet software had a definite role to play in this trend towards greater interest in utilisation.

“The technology allows you to see the degree of utilisation exists across your fleet and will help you identify areas where more flexible solutions might be possible.

“Also, if you decide to operate a pool fleet, for example, there are a range of tools that will help you with day-to-day vehicle booking, allocation and general management.”