Beyond Fleet:

Understanding The
Strategic Value of Your
Fleet Professional

Presentation 2012 NAFA Fleet Management 1

Association
All Rights Reserved All Materials Used By Permission Of
NAFA Fleet Management Association
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 managers 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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What is a fleet manager?
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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Fleet Managers
Support Company or Organizations
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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Fleet Managers Are
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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 Asset Management
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 employers 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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Business Management
Dealing with leasing companies,
automobile dealers, supply or service
contractors, insurance companies, and
others requires knowledge of an
organizations 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 9

vehicles.

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 fleets operational readiness
to respond to an emergency in a
coordinated, timely, and effective manner.
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Financial Management
Knowledge of the financial issues that
affect a managers 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 13
managerial information; and policy
implementation.
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 organizations performance
with past performance, industry partners,
or industrys best practices.

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Fleet Information Management
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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Maintenance Management
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 in-house or outsourced
maintenance personnel, drivers, and
management.

Vehicle Maintenance 18
Impacts all aspects of fleet management.
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 Managers 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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Risk
A formManagement
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 disciplines 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
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about a persons driving history.
Fleet specialists and managers must
Vehicle Fuel Management
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 disciplines
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
fleets 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. 27
Professional Development
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.
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Ethics
Ethical decision-making assists managers
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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For More Information
Visit the Beyond Fleet programs
website to review how fleet managers
positively impact business and achieve
your organizations goals.

You can find out all

about it at:
www.BeyondFleet.co
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Thank You!
NAFA Fleet
Management
Association

This presentation 2012 NAFA Fleet Management 32

Association