Presentation © 2012 NAFA Fleet Management Association
All Rights Reserved – All Materials Used By Permission Of
NAFA Fleet Management Association
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Managing a vehicle fleet requires expert knowledge, professional focus, and a dedicated execution of strategies.
This presentation will explain the breadth and depth of the fleet manager’s job, give you an awareness of the complexity of managing a fleet, and help you understand what knowledge and skills are required to be successful.
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Fleets of vehicles are an organizational asset.
Other assets most organizations have include
• Personnel
• Facilities
• Financial
• Intellectual Property
Fleet Management is a subset of Asset
Management.
Yet, a fleet manager wears many different hats.
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Support Company or Organization’s Mission via:
• Vehicles and equipment suitable for intended tasks
• Vehicles and equipment safe and available when needed
Professionals indispensable to their companies and organizations!
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Experts in and have knowledge of:
Asset management
Business management
Financial management
Fleet information management
Maintenance management
Risk management
Vehicle fuel management
Professional development
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• The overall management of all of the diverse assets held by an organization.
• A subset of the real properties owned or leased by an organization.
• Responsibility for selection, procurement, use, care, and remarketing of employer’s fleet assets.
• Sometimes fleet managers are also responsible for non-fleet equipment or infrastructure.
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Vehicle Selection & Acquisition
The process of choosing and procuring the most appropriate vehicles or equipment for defined needs of organization.
Vehicle Remarketing
The process of considering the most relevant factors and methods of removing fleet assets from the organization while maximizing the return on the investment.
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Dealing with leasing companies, automobile dealers, supply or service contractors, insurance companies, and others requires knowledge of an organization’s rights, boundaries, and responsibilities.
Regulations & Legislation
Covers the common federal and state laws and regulations impacting fleet, both internally for the organization and externally with outside parties.
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Business Law
Highlights the importance of contracts, hiring practices, the manufacture and sale of consumer goods, business transactions, work safety, and other legal aspects relating to fleet management.
Fleet Policies & Procedures
Concerning written documentation of executive level management decisions that employees are required to follow in conducting the business of the organization and usage of its fleet vehicles.
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Request for Proposals
For soliciting proposals and/or offers for proposed contracts using the negotiated procurement method to obtain goods and services.
Emergency Preparedness
Ensures the fleet’s operational readiness to respond to an emergency in a coordinated, timely, and effective manner.
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Knowledge of the financial issues that affect a manager’s fleets – possibly including: financial analysis of various acquisition options, ability to conduct a lifecycle analysis, benchmarking, outsourcing decisions, and preparing and implementing a fleet budget.
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Personal Use
The practice of an employer-provided vehicle being used for any function or activity other than official business and the implications this has on both the company and employee.
Vehicle Leasing
Act of acquiring a fleet asset, through legal contract, where the fleet manager takes control of the asset for a specific period of time, but does not take ownership of the item.
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Vehicle Purchase
Involves acquisition process where the fleet manager would acquire, and take ownership, of an asset for an agreed upon price.
Vehicle Reimbursement
Involves compensating employees who use their personally-owned vehicles for company business.
Budgeting
Includes projecting and planning for future financial activities; provision of accurate managerial information; and policy implementation.
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Lifecycle Cost Analysis
A mathematical model that allows a fleet manager to consider all the relevant costs incurred over the lifetime of a vehicle or operation.
Performance Monitoring
Comparing an organization’s performance with past performance, industry partners, or industry’s best practices.
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With a general knowledge of Information Technology, fleet managers can interact with support staff to solve problems and enhance IT functionality.
Information Infrastructure
Gives the fleet manager information to understand computer hardware and operating systems so they may enable efficient gathering, storage, transmission, and use of fleet data.
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Information Systems Selection & Implementation
To accurately determine fleet data requirements to meet asset management and decision-making needs.
Data Collecting & Processing
The fleet manager/specialist needs to optimize thousands of manual and electronic data streams to gather, organize, process, and present critical information in a meaningful format.
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Fleet Communications
Developing communication channels to benefit operators, dispatchers, customers, and intra-fleet functions.
Vendor Management
This readies the fleet manager with dealing with the potential issues that could arise with a third-party provider.
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Vehicle maintenance directly impacts productivity, driver satisfaction, corporate image, safety, environmental compliance, and the financial bottom line.
This requires understanding of, and ability to communicate, essential maintenance principals to inhouse or outsourced maintenance personnel, drivers, and management.
Vehicle Maintenance
Impacts all aspects of fleet management.
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Shop Operations
Fleet Managers must be able to establish policies and procedures that ensure vehicle safety while minimizing effective downtime and employing advantageous outsourcing opportunities.
Environmental Issues
Environmental regulation requirements ensure not only a clean and healthy environment, but also employee safety.
It is the Fleet Manager’s responsibility to know and adhere to these ever-changing regulations.
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Inventory Management
Professionally managed parts support is a critical contributing factor to the success of a maintenance facility.
Performance Monitoring
Involves proper identification of key performance indicators, data collection, comparison, and analysis to determine performance status and standards.
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Outsourcing
The decision to outsource activities depends on numerous factors, but ultimately is determined by what is most effective and efficient.
Maintenance Staffing
Includes right-sizing staff levels as well as ensuring their safety, proper training to meet the demands of evolving technology, and appropriate compensation.
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A form of planning and decision-making dealing with uncertain events as well as controlling risks before they can become a problem. Risk management provides additional strategies for dealing with loss.
This discipline’s competencies will demonstrate strategies of dealing with risk, focusing on insurance, subrogation, training, and safety, in addition to how to effectively handle a loss.
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Insurance
A system under which individuals, businesses and other organizations or entities, in exchange for payment of a sum of money (a premium), are guaranteed compensation for losses resulting from certain perils under specified conditions.
Subrogation
The substitution of one party (insurer) for another party
(insured) to pursue any rights the insured may have against a third party liable for a loss paid by the insurer.
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Fleet Driver Training & Vehicle Safety
A means of preventing employee and property losses to an organization through training and education.
Crash Management
The process of controlling direct and indirect losses incurred during and after vehicle crashes.
Motor Vehicle Records
A document that provides a history of violations, suspensions, and other details about a person’s driving history.
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Fleet specialists and managers must understand regional environmental issues and policies associated with fuel; should also know about alternative fuels, the emerging changes in technologies, and local government acts or regulations associated with them. This discipline’s competencies deal with both conventional and alternative fuels in centralized and decentralized operations.
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Environmental Issues
In-house fueling is the function of organizations that own and operate their own fueling facilities. In the course of this function, they are required to comply with strict, government environmental regulations.
Commercial Programs
A fuel management option whereby an outside vendor assists controlling, tracking, reporting, and managing a fleet’s use of commercial fuel stations.
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Conventional Fuels
Gasoline and diesel fuel are defined as conventional fuels.
They are the most widely used fuels in fleet vehicles.
Alternative Fuels
Include ethanol, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, biodiesel, electricity, methanol, and p-series fuels. The interest in alternative fuels is based on their potential to address three important issues: air quality in urban areas, dependence on imported petroleum, and greenhouse gas emissions.
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Fleet specialists and managers need to continually educate themselves. Personal improvement in leadership, ethical behavior, and all aspects of organizational effectiveness, is a must.
Leadership
Personal development is the concept of self-improvement through setting and achieving goals and career planning.
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Business Communications
Proper usage of writing techniques to communicate effectively; also includes other verbal and non-verbal methods of communication as well.
Organization Processes
Leaders must be adept at making decisions, negotiating, and managing change. They must also have good administration skills in the conduct of meetings and staffing decisions.
Ethics
Ethical decision-making assists managers in making decisions that are “right” and “good.”
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Individuals in Organizations
Fleet managers and specialists need to understand the types of employees, generational influences, and workplace issues such as harassment, health, and diversity.
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Visit the Beyond Fleet program’s website to review how fleet managers positively impact business and achieve your organization’s goals.
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This presentation © 2012 NAFA Fleet Management Association
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