Management of a company's vehicle fleet doesn't usually come under the remit of the Travel Plan Coordinator, nevertheless there's some excellent advice and initiatives around fleet management which the Coordinator might be interested in knowing and passing on to whoever is looking after fleet issues.

In fact Coordinators and Fleet Managers often find they have several aims in common such as reducing the organisation's transport costs and reducing vehicle emissions.

 

Nowadays more and more businesses are taking account of the environmental consequences of their fleet, not least because the tax system has been increasingly focused on emissions from different types of company vehicle.

 

Increasingly, businesses are also competing with one another on the basis of their environmental credentials.

 

The Energy Saving Trust provides a wide range of free transport advice on environmental fleet management.

 

Fleet management includes a range of functions such as vehicle financing, maintenance, telematics (tracking and diagnostics), driver, speed, fuel and health & safety management. It is usually dealt with either by an in-house fleet-management department or an outsourced fleet-management provider. Some companies purchase vehicles, others lease.

 

Energy Saving Trust provides a range of free services aimed at improving the environmental credentials of a company’s vehicle fleet. Services include: 

 

• Sustainable Transport Review
• Fleet Health Checks
• Fully subsidised FuelGood Training 
• Grey Fleet Review
• Information on Electric Vehicles and ChargePlace Scotland
• Useful case study examples 

 

Grey Fleet Review 

'Grey fleet' is simply the term used to describe any vehicles that do not belong to the company, but which are used for business travel. This might include a vehicle purchased via an employee ownership scheme, a privately rented vehicle or a vehicle privately owned by an employee.

Grey Fleet use across the UK is now seen as a huge issue, both in terms of its cost to public and private sector organisations but also its impact on carbon emissions and air quality.  

1.5 billion miles per annum are driven in grey fleet vehicles in the public sector at a cost of £786 million per annum (according to a recent report complied but the EST and BVRLA.) 

The private sector picture is not any better, with it estimated that up to 11 billion miles per annum are driven in grey fleet vehicles at a cost of upto £5 billion per annum.

Getting to Grips with Grey Fleet - this recent report, compiled by the Energy Saving Trust and British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) gives a much clearer picture of the scale and scope of grey fleet use in both the private and public sector across the UK. 

Do you know how much your organisation spends on grey fleet expenses?

It is estimated that there are approximately four million grey fleet cars in the UK – more than three times the number of company cars. This can have a significant financial impact on your organisation, not to mention environmental and health and safety impacts. But effective management of your grey fleet can help reduce these impacts.

Energy Saving Trust can provide you with a free sustainable transport review which can help highlight the measures and tools available to improve your grey fleet and save your organisation money.

You can also download the Energy Saving Trust Scotland's best practice guidance document on Grey Fleet

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent increases in company car taxation by the government risk increasing these figures further as organisations opt for grey fleet cash alternatives rather than company car schemes . There is a real need to start educating grey fleet operators and drivers about the alternatives and how they can be used. 

Alternatives to Grey Fleet :

Car Clubs - Car clubs offer a lower cost per mile than grey fleet and save time and money for your organisation by reducing administration costs. The car club also covers all the costs of owning and operating the vehicles, including insurance, tax, fuel, parking permits, cleaning and servicing. Visit the Car Clubs Page for more details about Car Clubs operating across Scotland. 

Corporate Lift Sharing schemes - There are various lift sharing schemes in operation across Scotland. Visit your Regional Transport Partnership page for details of the scheme in your area. Most lift sharing schemes will set up a closed, private group for an organisation or group of organisations for a fee. 

Daily rental vehicles - Understand how daily rental vehicles can benefit your business is a guide produced by the Energy Saving Trust and BVRLA. This guide outlines how an organisation can benefit from integrating short -term vehicle rental into their Sustainable Transport Strategy.

Incentivising alternatives to driving - Visit the Taking Action section for suggestions on how to encourage employees to use public transport or active travel. 

 

Other Resources

The Freight Best Practice programme, funded by the Scottish Government, promotes operational efficiency within freight operations with free advice on saving fuel, developing skills, equipment and systems, operational efficiency and performance management. The advice is tailored to lorries but also includes advice on multi-modal freight (e.g truck to train).