How you can enhance your corporate car fleet strategy in 2021
As we enter a new business quarter in a new year, car fleet management trends are evolving. And it's not just because of the commencement of a new calendar year, many external factors have attributed to the winds of changes in fleet management.
With the current global scenario, factors like health and hygiene, financial priorities and people's mindsets are also remodelling. These aspects have a major impact on the needs of your business as well as your employees. So, what must you as the fleet manager of your business, think about and take into consideration before you chalk out a fleet strategy for 2021?
Switch to smart solutions
In the world of 2021, there is no scope for sticking to traditional car policies that cannot keep up with the generational shift of your employees’ priorities. Today you must evaluate the needs of your business and the mindsets of your employees to adopt a smarter, more contemporary plan. One of the smarter solutions to your fleet woes is the concept of corporate car leasing. Leasing is gradually and effectively taking over the concept of traditionally buying cars for your employees and signing up for a series of long-term commitments. Leasing a fleet provides you with a buffet of benefits that begin with hassle-free processes. It allows your employees to have their personal vehicle and gives them relief from the worries of safety and hygiene while travelling. It is cost-effective for both them and your business as it allows your business to avail tax benefits too. This way, your business and your employees both remain content and continue to prosper.
Review your grey fleet management
In many cases, employees, especially the field staff use their personal vehicles to commute for business purposes. Such employees are eligible to avail a reimbursement for their maintenance and expenses from the company. Such an arrangement could also cause a blow to your finances if not managed properly. Additionally, in such situations of grey fleet, managing and constantly keeping tabs on every vehicle proves to be difficult. The drivers of the grey fleet are your responsibility as much as the care for the fleet is. Hence, you must look to plan your grey fleet in a more hassle-free and beneficial way for both safety and financial reasons.
Allocate your resources and funds wisely
Minimising wastage of available resources has more advantages than you would realise. Resources can be used more prudently by paying more attention to smaller details. You can begin by reviewing the fleet that your company has. Do you have the right models? How can you reduce expenditure on fuel? Using sedans with low fuel economy for local and short journeys may not be the best idea. You can choose to replace them with smaller cars or electric cars, options that could be more budget-friendly. You can consider alternate fuel and vehicle types to get a better experience without it taking a toll on your finances. Inculcating habits in your employees like switching off the car when at a halt, not driving faster than necessary or removing unnecessary bulk from the trunk of a vehicle, can help bring down the cost and consumption of fuel. You must audit your usage of resources and plan on how to maximise their utility and minimise your cost.
Turn to environment-friendly fleet
The global sentiment is positively changing towards issues like climate change, pollution control and sustainable resources. With more and more corporates also incorporating this sentiment in their policies and mottos, now is the right time for you to extend this vision to your fleet strategy too. Today, many car manufacturers have rolled out electric vehicles. Increasingly, companies are turning towards leasing electric vehicles and playing their part in reducing pollution. The sustainable fleet also aims at reducing individual carbon footprint. And in turn, this reduces the cost of fuel consumption and helps you to appeal to a large segment of eco-conscious consumers and stakeholders.
Digitise your processes
Digital is no more just a vision of the future. The era of digitisation has long arrived and is now entering the car fleet management sector too. Not only is digitisation good for getting things done on the go but is also extremely fitting in today’s scenario. With businesses, fleet partners, employees and consumers, everyone looking to minimise contact, digital processes are the boon we need. You can now choose to go digital for services like negotiating, procurement, maintenance and any other assistance. Digital services can help simplify the process not only for you but also for your employees who would be the ultimate users of the vehicles.
Avail the benefits of telematics
Telematics is the technology of acquiring data about a vehicle's location, speed, driver behaviour and other activities using the GPS systems and sensors. Such a technology can be used by you to track the behaviour and driving pattern of your employees and encourage positive changes or corrective measures. The safety of your drivers and the people on the road should be of utmost importance. Using this technology, you can plan training sessions by identifying areas that need to be worked on. You can even conduct workshops to encourage responsible driving and incentivize your employees to actively be more aware of their on-road activity. This kind of data can be useful in identifying the scope of improvement and can help your business in leading a workforce of responsible drivers. This technology can also assist in checking if fleet driving tools are in place with maintenance schedules and defect reporting processes. This will help avoid any potential risk and will allow you to work closely with human resources as well as health and safety departments to ensure the same.
Planning a fleet strategy for your business is no small task, especially in the demanding times we live in. You, as a fleet manager want to aim at ensuring benefits for both, your employees and the business itself, while you also keep up with the changing tide of trends. We at ALD Automotive can be the best vehicle fleet management partner in your journey of strategizing as well as executing your plans. We can help you achieve your goals and put a tick mark across all your requirements.
Because just like you, we want to ensure that your company and employees get the best out of your fleet. And in an ever-changing world, we know that’s not possible without changing your approach.