Category: Press Release

A new integration between fleet management software provider FleetCheck and tachograph market leader VDO will mean fleets can access all their compliance data “in one place”.

A VDO drop-down menu is being added to FleetCheck’s core commercial vehicle platform, allowing tachograph information to be accessed directly, alongside other essentials such as maintenance records and walkaround checks.

Stuart West, product and business development manager at VDO UK, said: “We first announced a strategic partnership with FleetCheck just over a year ago and have been working with them on this integration ever since.

“It’s not just a simple data import but means that using a single login, all your compliance information is available in one place – both gathered through our tachographs and FleetCheck’s software covering areas such as walkaround checks.

“It’ll deliver, for example, a seamless and simplified approach to Driver Hours compliance, with a reduced administrative burden and enhanced overall fleet performance, as well as making qualification for Earned Recognition much simpler.

“Working with FleetCheck is a very good cultural fit for us. They share our commitment to delivering products that are not just a box ticking compliance exercise but help to create a genuine safety culture for fleets.”

Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck, added that the integration was a key strategic development for both companies, maximising the benefits of their respective technology.

“We’re very pleased to be working with VDO in this way. They are the tachograph provider of choice for many of our customers and this integration will provide important advantages when it comes to safety and ease of use.

“FleetCheck and VDO shared a stand at the recent Commercial Vehicle Show and the reception to the integrated version of the software from fleets was very positive. The benefits are obvious and we expect take-up to be high.

“The partnership represents a significant step forward in compliance that maximises the capabilities of our software and VDO’s tachograph technology.”

Based in Kemble, Gloucestershire, and established in 2006, FleetCheck is one of the UK’s leading fleet management software specialists, with a customer base more than 2,000 customers operating more than 260,000 vehicles and assets.

Established in 1929 and headquartered in Schwalbach am Taunus, Germany, VDO is a premier global provider in innovative solutions, currently serving over 20,000 customers operating more than 200,000 tachograph equipped vehicles in Europe.

The government could need to revisit the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate for vans as early as next year, FleetCheck is predicting.

Peter Golding, managing director at the fleet software specialist, said that electric van sales in the first quarter of 2025 were less than half what was needed, and there was no reason to believe they would improve dramatically soon.

“The zero emissions target for the van market this year is 16% but even the best sales month we have seen so far has not exceeded 10%. There would have to be a decisive shift through Q2 to Q4 to hit the government’s target and there is no sign such a change is coming.

“For 2026, the target increases to 24% and again, it’s almost impossible to conceive that the market is going to gain the necessary momentum to get anywhere near that figure.

“The potential shortfall fines to manufacturers are now £15,000 per unit but the government insists that these will not need to be paid because of inbuilt flexibilities, including recent changes to allow trading off car versus van sales, but that’s just storing up further pressures for the future. It’s an exercise in can kicking, not a solution.”

A key point to recognise, he said, was that by revising the ZEV Mandate once, the government had already established that it would act to balance the health of the motor industry against its environmental policies.

“It’s clearly a positive that the government has listened and made some changes to the ZEV Mandate regulations but it also establishes a principle that they will make modifications to protect manufacturers and the wider sector. Having done this once, it seems probable they would do it again.

“By next year, it seems likely that it will become clear the gap between the real van market and ZEV Mandate projections are unbridgeable, and that further action will have to be taken. The underlying fault line which, to be fair, is one the government inherited, is that the ZEV Mandate is supply side based, when what the electric van market needs is a boost to demand.”

Additionally, Peter added, there were some signs that zero emissions projects in general were potentially going to become a more prominent political issue.

“While I’d underline that FleetCheck as an organisation is in favour of working towards net zero, there are some moves to make the entire subject of zero emissions much more contentious. Certainly, this is something that Nigel Farage is talking about now and he is very good at placing pressure on government policy.

“It may be that, in a year or so, a further relaxation of the ZEV Mandate could be something that this Labour administration perceives as not just sound industrial policy for the motor industry, but also something that has political value.”

The increasing use of passenger screens capable of showing films and video games should be factored into fleet risk management policies, says FleetCheck.

Peter Golding, managing director at the fleet software specialist, said these “co-pilot” screens were becoming more widely fitted to higher end cars, and studies showed they created a high level of distraction for the driver.

“There is already research showing driver screen technology such as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay can dramatically affect reaction times* behind the wheel and more recently, there have also been similar findings about passenger screens.

“A report from Tongji University in China** indicates that driver behaviour becomes more erratic when the co-pilot display is being used and again, reaction times are affected because of distractions from sound and vision.

“While this latest research doesn’t directly make the inference, these kinds of research often show the effects are comparable with drug and alcohol use, so these not small risks, and fleets should arguably be considering their effect on driving performance.”

Peter said that risk management policies could be modified to minimise the impact of screens on fleet road safety and that some fleets had already taken this step.

“The interiors of cars have changed massively in just a few years. Many manufacturers have followed the Tesla example of putting almost all controls on touchscreens and, as a result, some employers have guidance about using voice control whenever possible.

“However, there are times when the voice control fails and manually using the screen is unavoidable, such as to operate heating controls. This can involve taking your eyes off the road for extended periods of time, which is an obvious risk.

“Our view is that fleets need to do everything possible to engage with drivers and help them to use this technology as safely as possible, even though there are often no clear solutions.”

When it came to co-pilot screens, the obvious solution was to bar models with them from your fleet, he added.

“Driver screens are almost always part of the control layout of the vehicle and, while they are probably not a positive development for road safety, they need to be used.

“In contrast, passenger screens serve no real practical purpose for businesses operating vehicles and are there purely for the entertainment of the passenger. It’s difficult to arrive at guidance that allows them to be used safely and probably the most effective step is to keep vehicles with them fitted off choice lists.”

*IAM RoadSmart, 2020
**Exploring the impact of the passenger’s display on driver workload and driving performance, 2023

The dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) enabled insurance fraud are growing for fleets as image quality continues to rapidly improve, FleetCheck is reporting.

Neil Avent, chief technical officer at the fleet software company, said there had been recent advances in the realism of both still and digital AI-generated images.

“There has been a real step change in the last few months with the more widespread availability of a technology called GANs – or generative adversarial networks. This uses two neural networks in competition to create images and is now being offered by the mainstream image generation systems, replacing previous diffusion-style techniques.

“The result is that there has been a jump in the quality of video and image generation. If you take an image of a vehicle that has been involved in an accident and asked AI to ‘add scratches and light dents along the door panel’ today then the output is much more convincing than it was even last year.”

The biggest potential for fraud, he explained, was in instances where an accident had occurred and AI was used to exaggerate the level of damage that had resulted.

“If an employee is involved in a collision, the driver of the other vehicle may take pictures of the damage incurred and ask AI to basically make it worse to increase the value of the claim. One of the advantages of GANs technology is that it can do this across multiple images with a high degree of consistency.”

At the moment, Neil added, AI images and video were probably not sufficiently convincing to make this kind of fraud possible but the tipping point was likely to be only a matter of months away, based on the current rate of progress.

“We’re reaching a stage where it is not easy even for experts to see that some images have been manipulated and fleets should be aware of the growing potential for fraud and its resulting impact on their insurance costs.

“However, there is a simple solution – asking your drivers who are involved in collisions to take pictures of all the vehicles involved, meaning that a complete record of the accident is created and later use of AI can be much more easily identified. This is something that can be done using our app, which provides prompts that walk the driver through the process.”

Nick Hutson, compliance and training manager at 1st Choice Insurance, which partners with FleetCheck, added: “Fraudulent and exaggerated claims have been a persistent issue for decades, but the methods used to carry them out have evolved significantly over time, becoming increasingly difficult to track and manage. With AI-generated images and videos advancing rapidly, it’s becoming harder to spot manipulations, and there’s a strong likelihood that we’ve already encountered such claims without identifying them.

“To help combat this, we encourage drivers to adopt additional procedures, such as taking comprehensive, clear photos from multiple angles and using technology to record accurate details at the scene. These simple steps can make a big difference in identifying and preventing fraudulent claims.”

Changes to the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate announced today by the government “don’t go far enough” to resolve fleet issues with electric vans.

Peter Golding, managing director at the fleet software specialist, said the government would almost certainly have to make further revisions in the future to create momentum behind van electrification.

“The fundamental issues that fleets tell us they are facing when it comes to electric van adoption are that the available vehicles are too expensive, don’t have adequate capacity for their needs, and lack sufficient range.

“The moves that the government has made today don’t go far enough towards tackling these core problems. In creating a situation where diesel and hybrid vans can stay on sale until 2035, they’re potentially just giving fleet operators an excuse to continue using ICE vehicles and ignore the issue for a few more years.”

There were only really two potential solutions to this problem – either incentives for adoption from the government or more capable vehicle designs.

“We are likely to see electric vans become more suitable for fleet use over time and almost every month, we see incremental improvements to range and payloads, while prices are becoming more attainable. However, whether this is happening at a pace sufficient to overcome operator objections to these vehicles is very much open to question.

“In the company car sector, successful adoption has been powered by taxation advantages – especially zero or very low benefit in kind. There is nothing resembling the same level of assistance in the electric van market and, as a result, no real impetus for change. This is the area where the government needs to act.

“Today’s revisions are all about supply but it’s arguable that the real problem lies with demand. We speak to fleet operators almost every day who are unimpressed by the prospect of electric vans to the extent that their current plan is to operate their existing diesel vans for as long as possible. More needs to be done to change this mindset.”

FleetCheck is launching a product specially designed for the large fleet sector for the first time at Commercial Vehicle (CV) Show 2025.

Called FleetCheck Enterprise, the fleet management software platform is aimed at corporate users, vehicle leasing companies and other major operators.

Developed from existing core FleetCheck technology, it adds features including bespoke workflows, custom integrations and enhanced service level agreements, plus access to high level management expertise.

Peter Golding, managing director, said: “Historically, we’ve tended to be known for our success in the small-medium fleet sector but the truth is that we’ve always successfully supplied systems to larger operators and have huge expertise in this part of the market

“What we have seen in the last couple of years is an increase in this kind of business, with noticeably more demand for our technology and expertise among these bigger users, especially when it comes to replacing older, complex legacy systems.

“With FleetCheck Enterprise, we essentially formalising our offering in this sector with a product that is suitable for almost any large fleet scenario.”

Peter explained that the delivery of platforms in the large fleet sector was based around factors such as customisation, service, integrations, advanced business intelligence and reporting, and use across multiple departments such as fleet, finance and human resources.

“It’s true to say that in many ways, the fleet management software used by small and large fleets is not technically that different and indeed, part of our recent success with corporate users has been our belief that bigger operators want their technology to be every bit as intuitive to use as software targeted at someone with a dozen vehicles.

“Where the differences emerge are around specific requirements that may require a degree of customisation, a wider range of more intensive integrations, and a higher level of service that calls for detailed and dedicated project management.

“Delivering these effectively is very much the thinking behind FleetCheck Enterprise and are qualities that have seen us find increasing popularity with larger fleets. We expect the new product will grow our footprint still further and are excited to be exhibiting it at CV Show.”

FleetCheck will be exhibiting FleetCheck Enterprise and its entire product range at stand 5E122 at CV Show from April 29-May 1.

Increasing demands in data security and interfacing are seeing fleets rapidly move away from legacy software, FleetCheck is reporting.

Peter Golding, managing director, said there appeared to be a tipping point occurring in the market away from older platforms that no longer met the needs of car, van and truck operators in 2025.

“There’s a tendency – and all businesses do it – to persist with an old IT system, putting in place a growing number of sticking plasters as it creaks to handle new needs, because the prospect of a replacement seems too difficult.

“However, what we have seen increasingly in the last few months is many fleets reach a moment of realisation that their aged software just can’t be made to meet today’s needs, however much patching is done.”

Peter said FleetCheck had reported in June that sales at the company were up by a third, largely powered by concerns over data security and efficiency measures, and the current legacy systems situation seemed to be a continuation of that trend.

“We have known for a while that worries over software robustness and productivity were powering the increase in sales we have been seeing, but what has become clear more recently is the extent to which the failure of older software is a factor.

“What fleets are finding is their existing platform just can’t meet the security standards that are expected in a corporate environment today, or interface successfully with modern systems to import data. These are critical elements in any modern IT environment and they’re bumping up against the limitations of software that was often written in the last century.

“Why is it happening now? Well, there are some popular, specific legacy systems from particular providers that were bought 20 or more years ago which have reached the end of their lives but equally, vehicle operators are also becoming increasingly aware of the potential of digitalisation to improve the performance of their fleet and want to maximise those opportunities. The only way to do that is with newer software.”

A new white paper from FleetCheck launched this week is designed to help fleets prepare for an ageing of their diesel vans caused by the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate.

The document explains how current vehicle operator resistance to van electrification, coupled with increasing shortages and higher prices for diesel vans, is likely to result in substantially extended replacement cycles.

Barrie Wilson, commercial fleet consultant at the fleet software specialist, said: “There are two key trends in the van sector, we believe. One is that because of issues over range, payload and cost, van fleets are not electrifying at anything like the rate envisaged in the ZEV Mandate.

“The second is that major manufacturers including Ford and Stellantis have said that they will meet the production ratios stipulated in the ZEV Mandate by reducing diesel van production rather than risk paying the extremely high punitive fines.

“The most probable result of these market conditions is that diesel vans are going to become in increasingly short supply and more expensive. Yes, some fleets will start to electrify in response but the indications that we see across our customer base are that many will hang onto their existing diesel vans for much longer.”

Barrie said that FleetCheck was referring to this development as “Havana Syndrome” with older vehicles kept continually roadworthy over decades by a high level of attention to maintenance – similar to US cars from the 1940s and 1950s still in use in Cuba.

“One of the key developments we saw post-pandemic was for fleets to extend their replacement cycles. They are typically already a couple of years longer for diesel vans than before covid and there is now this possibility they could be stretched even further.

“This creates a range of issues for operators of which the most important are safety and running costs, but it’s also crucial to minimise the environmental impact of these older vehicles and keep them looking good to protect your corporate image.”

The FleetCheck white paper highlights four areas where fleets need to concentrate efforts – routine service and maintenance, defect management, record keeping and data collection, and budgetary pressures.

Barrie said: “There’s no denying that operating vans into probably eight years and longer will create significant issues for fleets and we use the white paper to examine these. Our view is that it is viable for operators but will require a high degree of effort and of course, fleet management software has a key role to play.”

The biggest obstacle to Havana Syndrome would be if the government acted over a period of time to make operating ageing diesel vans unviable, he added

“If this does become a widespread and identifiable trend into the 2030s, it is probable that any government committed to reducing emissions would look to remove these diesel vans from the road through taxation.

“There are various ways of achieving this. Increasing costs for diesel vans entering low emissions zones would be one. Another could be higher vehicle excise duty on diesel vans but this would need to be sufficiently high to make electric vans look attractive as an alternative.

“The other potential route would be higher fuel duty on diesel but this would unavoidably also hit private motorists driving diesel cars and could be politically untenable.”

The FleetCheck ZEV Mandate white paper can be downloaded at https://uberdrive.com/the-2025-diesel-van-shortage-how-the-zev-mandate-will-impact-your-fleet/.

News that some motor manufacturers are working on new range extender (REx) models could be a step towards potentially solving “tough” fleet electrification issues, says FleetCheck.

Ford and Stellantis are among those reported to be developing REx versions of larger SUVs and pick-ups, having found full electric versions expensive to bring to market, and also offer a solution to range limitations.

Peter Golding, managing director, said: “In terms of stepping stone models between ICE and electric cars and vans, the motor industry has tended to go down the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) route and in some respects, they’ve not been the best solution.

“The problem with PHEVs, as many fleet managers will attest, is that it’s easy for drivers to never bother to charge them unless they are closely monitored, effectively using them as an ICE vehicle. Leasing companies sometimes receive them back with the charging cable still in its wrapper.

“For some employees, they’ve been a route to access lower benefit in kind taxation while often actually polluting and using more fuel than a petrol or diesel equivalent because the weight of a little used electric drivetrain is being carried around.

“In contrast, REx vehicles are electric first and make sense where their ICE capacity is designed to offer enough reassurance to offset issues surrounding range. For fleet applications where electrification is proving tough – such as pick-ups, proper offroad 4x4s and larger vans – they could offer a genuine bridge until a time when charging infrastructure, and battery technology and pricing, improves to the point that an electric vehicle becomes practical.”

Peter said that for there to be a move towards RExs in these categories however, some form of government recognition and support would be needed.

“The new Ford and Stellantis vehicles being engineered appear largely aimed at the US market but no doubt the technology could be adapted for use in Europe if there was sufficient demand. It could potentially make an impact if applied to larger panel vans, which remains probably the most prominent, difficult-to-solve area of electrification.

“We know from measures in the latest Budget that the government is moving against PHEVs in both benefit in kind and vehicle excise duty terms, and our understanding is that RExs are classified for taxation purposes in the same way, so there would probably have to be some changes to create a situation where manufacturers are encouraged to introduce them.”

Fleets should consider backing calls for much wider use of 20mph speed limits in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland after initial results from Wales showed a “dramatic” reduction in road casualties.

New figures for the third quarter of 2024 just published by the Welsh Government show 100 fewer causalities on urban roads compared to the same period in 2023, which was before the country introduced a default 20mph limit.

Peter Golding, managing director, said: “These are apparently the lowest Q3 figures for road accidents involving injury ever seen in Wales – about a fifth less than the previous year. While it is fair to suggest more experience is needed to find out whether this pattern is sustained, results of this type suggest that lower limits are having a dramatic effect on casualties.

“Organisations such as Brake and Cycling UK are backing the call for wider use of 20mph zones and the question is whether the fleet sector should do the same? It’s arguable that there is not just a moral imperative to do so but that it is very much in the spirit of the driving at work risk management culture.”

He added that anecdotal feedback from fleets about lower speed limits was mixed. Some saw them as a hindrance to efficiency while others were relaxed about their operational impact and recognised the potential they had for improving safety.

“Drivers of cars and vans who make multi-stop journeys in urban areas are often resistant to 20mph zones because they are going from appointment to appointment in difficult traffic conditions and the lower limit just feels very slow.

“There’s also an argument that lower speed limits may force some fleets, such as delivery companies, into reducing the number of drops they can make in any given time period, and it would be interesting to hear about the experience of these businesses in Wales.

“However, there remains the potential for hundreds or even thousands of fewer road casualties every year if we adopted similar measures in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and that’s something very difficult for fleets to ignore, in our opinion.”