Car Finance

5. Fleet Management

With careful management, you will get much better value out of your car fleet. If you do not have the time to do it yourself, using a fleet management company might be worthwhile.

Fleet management is a standalone service provided separately from your finance package.

5.1 Fleet management companies will normally only take on larger companies (those with more than 100 vehicles).

• You sign up for three to five years.
• Ensure there are reasonable break clauses in the contract so you can walk away if you do not get the service promised.

5.2 Services will vary according to your needs and the size of the fleet.

They may include:

• Analysing the capacity and productivity of the existing car fleet.
• Developing a replacement policy.
• Sourcing new cars and arranging finance.
• Arranging service and maintenance.
• Analysing fuel consumption.
• Incident management - dealing with accidents and breakdowns.
• Arranging sales to maximise value.
• Provision of management information.

5.3 Smaller companies should consider a contract hire firm capable of adding the fleet management approach.

5.4 Additional costs should be outweighed by savings on:

• Bulk purchase deals.
• Greater operating efficiency.
• More careful driving by employees, if they know they are being monitored.
• Better resale values.