Outsourced fleet management warning with evolving automotive landscape

Against a backdrop of an ever-evolving automotive landscape, large companies are being warned not to outsource the management of their vehicles.

Writing in Cox Automotive’s Insight Quarterly, Lorna McAtear, deputy chair of the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), says that, with fleet management getting more complicated daily, operating vehicles without a fleet manager makes the job even more difficult. 

“Gone are the days of outsourcing to a company to do the basics for you,” she said.

“If an organisation wants to save money, remain compliant, and be prepared for the future, it can do no wrong in employing a dedicated fleet manager.”

She added that industry players and the Government are not moving fast enough in the current transition to alternative fuels.

“Transitioning from early adopters to mass market means that much more must happen quickly,” she explained. 

“The time for doing so is now. We will ultimately fail unless we push ourselves to step outside our comfort zones to change, grow and transform. Waiting it out isn’t an option.”

Cox Automotive’s Insight director Philip Nothard thinks the role of a fleet manager is undoubtedly changing.

He said: “Fleets remain crucial to the future growth of the industry as a whole, and addressing the issues that lie in that area is key to ensuring a smoother transition to a more sustainable future.”

According to McAtear, a whole raft of measures will be needed in the coming years to help the change that’s already happening, from better labelling of vehicles, simplifying regulations around vehicle weights, MOTs and licence categories.

Greater support is also needed for electric vehicle (EV) sales and benefit-in-kind (BIK) rules, she said.

“None of these appear to be included in the political party manifestos I’ve seen,” she added. “And they don’t touch on vans, HGVs, niche vehicles or hydrogen-powered vehicles.”

In addition to Government support, McAtear says that OEMs should be making more significant strides to make operationally efficient vehicles if they want fleets to purchase greater numbers of alternatively fuelled fleet units.

Nothard said: “The central role of fleets in automotive registrations can’t be denied. That’s why any new Government should listen to and act on what sector leaders are saying. That is especially true when it comes to the many issues around charging infrastructure.”