Five key benefits to outsourcing your fleet management needs

Fleet management should be on the radar of all HR teams, not least because company cars are a great attraction and retention tool – but most organisations also run light commercial vehicles (LCVs). A recent survey conducted by People Management Insight and fleet management company Herd Group found that for more than a quarter (27%) of the organisations the fleet is the responsibility of HR or another internal department or manager.Yet, managing a fleet is a specialist and time-consuming business, and doesn't fall into HR's area of core strategic expertise. Not surprisingly, Herd Group's survey found that more than half of respondents with a fleet – including those with their own internal fleet manager – would like to reduce administration. So, if you're already running a fleet, or are considering doing so, here are five reasons why outsourcing your fleet management could be the way to go.1. It frees up your valuable time With outsourcing you don't have to be constantly on hand to monitor vehicles and troubleshoot issues, nor deal with the hassle of administration, legal compliance and financing. You don't have to worry about what to buy or lease either. So, you can concentrate your time and effort on your value-adding HR role. You can also streamline your communications through a single point of contact, who will give you detailed analysis of your fleet’s performance, expert advice on best practice and industry trends, and with whom you can discuss day-to-day management of the fleet.Additionally, using a specialist company such as Herd Group allows you to benefit from their innovation, all of which is designed to save time. For example, Herd Connect represents a step-change in fleet management technology, which allows businesses to have a completely paper-free operation. It covers things from instant online DVLA checks, to purchase invoice control, saving the need for numerous spreadsheets for reporting, monitoring and tracking vehicle schedules and reminders. What’s more, Herd Connect allows you to delegate responsibilities to the drivers themselves. The ‘My Vehicle Inspection’ app allows drivers to inspect vehicles and log defects via their smartphones, in a way that is fully integrated with Herd’s online fleet management system. This ensures that essential vehicle inspections are up to date, and allows maintenance repairs to be booked and managed in a timely manner.2. Make use of external expertise Not only do companies often underestimate the time required to run a fleet, they also underestimate the expertise required. So they hand it over to HR to do part-time. But HR are already stretched in delivering their own core expertise, and they lack specialist knowledge and contacts, access to the most cutting-edge fleet technology (see below), and information on the latest industry safety, licensing, taxation, finance, risk management and environmental rules. Common organisation mistakes:They often fail to comply with duty of care legislation, typically through lack of awareness, and don’t understand their responsibilities to different groups of employees. They may not have a proper vehicle defect system in place. One-in-three cars and half of all vans fail their MOT at the first attempt. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is carrying out growing numbers of compliance checks on vans, and the typical fine is around £970.Failing to provide driver details after receiving a Notice of Intended Prosecution is a criminal offence under Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It is the keeper of the vehicle who is responsible for identifying who was driving it when the offence took place. Many companies are unaware of this.Companies may also rely on different sets of data that are not integrated. They may not realise there’s a gap in the data until an incident occurs, which makes it much more difficult to resolve.3. Take advantage of the latest technology Fleet management gets more complex all the time, making it more and more difficult for teams that do things manually to keep being efficient. But ever evolving fleet management technology can track everything from fuel consumption to driving behaviour, and provide systems that make reporting easy – along with other tools to reduce operational costs. Outsourcing means you don't have to update your technology every few months or waste time trying to adapt to off-the-shelf solutions. Herd Connect is an end-to-end fleet management system. It provides expert advice and innovative products and technology, and customers benefit from a cloud-based customer dashboard showing up-to-date information on everything from vehicle allocation and utilisation, to service and maintenance requirements. Connect also handles DVLA licence checking, driver risk profiling, fuel management, and more.4. It saves you moneyOutsourcing your fleet management to an expert means you benefit from economies of scale, in buying and purchasing vehicles, service and maintenance, technology, and so on. You save money and control spending. If you do it yourself, you can find fleet costs creeping up, along with maintenance and repair bills. More than 80% of respondents to the survey say that cost is important to them when selecting a vehicle provider. Fleet management specialists not only ensure you have the right type of vehicles for your particular operation, but also advise on the best blend of funding. You may even decide to move from owning vehicles to leasing them, thereby freeing up capital to invest in your business’s growth.Herd Group has its own fleet of more than 2,000 vehicles, and combines the expertise and knowledge in managing this fleet with the economies of scale it enjoys from suppliers of, for example, contract vehicle hire, and service and maintenance – savings it passes on to its Connect customers.5. More information, means more controlYou outsource the headaches, while benefiting from up-to-date, easy-to-absorb customer dashboards, comprising all the fleet information in one place, accessible wherever you are. Every one of the elements of the Herd Connect system allows the in-house team or individual who manages the fleet, to have control. A Vehicle Off Road and Downtime Management system mean you can reduce periods that the vehicles are out of operation and admin, which, as well as keeping costs down, minimises disruption. The availability of vehicles was cited in the survey by 45% of those respondents as being important when selecting a vehicle provider. What’s more, with environmental considerations becoming increasingly important, you can use the relationships that the Herd Group has with manufacturers to keep abreast of developments in electric vehicles and new green technologies. A greener fleet improves emissions, enhances the organisation’s overall environmental performance and, ultimately, reduces costs.Herd Group has built its business with three clear principles in mind. One, to offer the most comprehensive range of commercial vehicle and fleet solutions available. Two, to keep things simple and straightforward. And three, its total commitment to providing exceptional customer care.Find out more about how Herd Group can help your business to get more done at herdgroup.co.uk.

Five key benefits to outsourcing your fleet management needs

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