Making the right vehicle choice when it comes to your fleet is critical to keeping your people safe and comfortable on the road. It’s also an important lever that can keep costs down. Here’s how.
Many organisations prefer to have the same brand of vehicles in their fleet - it’s what their employees are used to.
But much like your business, your fleet needs to evolve to keep up with changing economic and market conditions. And choosing the right vehicles can have a bigger impact on your whole organisation than you might think.
Making your fleet fit for purpose
No matter where your organisation is at, the vehicles in your fleet need to meet the needs of your business and its people. The wrong vehicles can limit utilisation and productivity, leave your employees feeling frustrated and increase your costs.
To make sure your fleet is fit for purpose, it’s useful to look at:
- Your business strategy: Is your business model or services/product areas likely to change? Are you looking to bring more people on board in the near future?
- Your goals: Are you looking to cut costs? What sustainability and environmental goals are you working towards?
- Your people: How do they use the vehicles? Do they need space for tools or products? Are they likely to have passengers? Do they drive long distances or just around metropolitan areas? Do they have vehicle preferences?
Once you understand these core elements, you can drill down into the criteria your vehicles need to meet.
For example, your business may be focusing on cutting costs, but your employees use fleet vehicles regularly, travelling long distances. This might mean you need a cost-effective passenger vehicle that’s comfortable, safe and highly fuel-efficient.
Or your people may be frustrated that some of your current vehicles aren’t right for the equipment they need to transport. You may need to source custom vehicles to allow people to do their jobs more seamlessly, while staying safe and engaged.
Reduce fleet costs
If you’re coming to the end of your current fleet agreement, you may be surprised by the cost increases over the past couple of years. Inflation and a previous lack of supply have had a significant impact on vehicle prices.
One way you can take control of your fleet’s financial planning is to look at switching brands. While this can be a hard decision to make, it doesn’t have to come with compromises.
At Interleasing, our data-driven vehicle benchmarking means we can help you explore different brands while maintaining the quality and driver experience your people have come to expect.
Our expert team overlays your company goals with whole-of-life costs including rental charges, kilometres travelled, and fuel spend. We also look at risk management data, including accidents, infringements, roadside assists, vehicle condition, as well as CO2 emissions data to make sure these are tracking against sustainability goals.
And we validate our recommendations through external data, like the Australian Automobile Association’s (AAA) real-world testing reports. The AAA compares the on-road fuel efficiency and emissions of more than 80 vehicles against manufacturer claims to help customers make the right choice. While many cars perform as advertised, the AAA's data shows that some use less, and others use up to 35% more, fuel than manufacturer lab testing shows.
“For a fleet with more than 100 vehicles travelling 25,000km each year this gap could mean a significant increase in costs. Our team has started using AAA’s data to ensure our advice and recommendations are backed up by external, real-world data – in some cases saving clients up to 20% in fuel costs ,” shares Bruno Hrstic, National Manager, Client Relations.
Benefits beyond costs
Having the right vehicle isn’t just good for your bottom line. It can also boost your people’s engagement and productivity.
When staff have access to vehicles that are fit for purpose, safe and comfortable, they’re more likely to follow processes and have fewer incidents. This can reduce risks and give you more oversight of the overall health of your vehicles. And this all starts with validating your vehicle choices regularly.
“In an always-changing environment, benchmarking your vehicles once or twice a year ensures they’re still right for your business,” recommends Bruno. “This will either validate your decision, or flag that something isn’t working as it should, allowing you to take action before it’s too late.”
If you need help with validating your fleet vehicles, let us know. We’re here to help you get the most value out of your fleet.
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