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Fleets need to remain on top of fuel costs, says FleetCheck, as prices are predicted to continue to fall from the record levels seen in mid-2022.

Peter Golding, managing director at the fleet management software specialist explained that interest in fuel management at a corporate level often tended to rise and fall in correlation to pump prices but that an ongoing, strategic approach to fuel management was essential.

“The RAC are predicting that decreasing oil prices will start to feed through to sharp falls at the pumps quite quickly, meaning that a litre of fuel could soon be substantially cheaper than just a few months ago. In these situations, you can almost hear an audible sigh of relief across the fleet sector as prices are perceived to have dropped to a ‘sensible’ level.

“However, while lower prices are certainly welcome, they are not a pretext for fleets to take their eyes off the ball. Buying fuel remains a major expense in the running of cars and vans and, even if there is a substantial market adjustment forthcoming, it is a fundamental of fleet management to ensure that basic cost control measures remain in place.

“Of course, some fleets are good at controlling fuel expenditure on an ongoing basis – tracking fuel use to examine both overall trends, and drivers and vehicles at an individual level – but in others the subject tends to be more of a cyclical priority in response to current prices.”

Peter said that FleetCheck continued to encourage its client base to track fuel expenditure intensively, gathering accurate data and producing useful reports that had a genuine impact on costs.

“In our experience over many years, the best way to gather fuel data is through a fuel card alongside journey information from telematics, and the best way to assimilate that data is through fleet management software that is able to make sense of the mass of information. This approach helps fleets to make strategic decisions at both a macro and micro level.

“However, there is also a step beyond this where questioning fuel use is ingrained into the culture of a business, where a line manager will raise questions about whether individual employees or whole departments need to be making all the trips they are undertaking. This can be much harder to achieve but, to our mind, is very much worthwhile and has a longstanding impact on fuel expenditure, whatever the current pump prices.”

One in 10 vans operated by fleets are not compliant with the London Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), which is being substantially expanded from August 2023, FleetCheck is warning.

Peter Golding, managing director at the leading fleet management software specialist said that to be ULEZ-compliant, vans needed to meet Euro 6 standards, which generally meant they were registered after late 2016.

He explained: “There’s something of a problem in the fact that many fleets are now running older vehicles that would’ve been seen before the pandemic. In pre-Covid times, there would have been very few six-year-old-plus vans being used by fleets but factors such as low production volumes in recent years mean that there are now more than in the past.

“Looking at data drawn from across our customer base, which is quite heavily biased towards SMEs, 10% of vans still being operated won’t be able to be used in Greater London from next August. This is not a huge number but it is also not insignificant.

“As a company, we believe that the achievements of the ULEZ in terms of improving air quality are to be applauded and support its expansion but this development may present practical problems for these fleets.”

Peter said that two choices were available to businesses with non-compliant vans who needed to enter the ULEZ – either swapping Euro 5 with Euro 6 vans within their organisation to put the right vehicles was in the right areas, or to buy compliant replacement vehicles.

“Option A is perhaps becoming a little bit trickier thanks to the growth of low emissions zones across the country and will depend on the composition and needs of each fleet. However, option B is also relatively difficult at the moment because of production restrictions. Especially, replacing any kind of specialist light commercial vehicle could be difficult as manufacturers tend to be concentrating current production on simple panel vans.”

Peter added that FleetCheck had been providing guidance to its fleet management software users who were facing these issues, and the advice given differed quite widely based on individual circumstances.

“There’s no easy answer to this problem for the fleets affected but it is something that needs to be solved somehow and we are helping them to identify appropriate solutions.”

Some leasing companies are refusing to extend maintenance packages when cars and vans are taken beyond their initial contract into a fourth or fifth year, FleetCheck is reporting.

Peter Golding, managing director, said that while the practice was not widespread, as far as the fleet management software specialist could ascertain, it was certainly taking place and creating significant problems for some fleets.

“Ongoing production issues mean that many fleets can’t get hold of the new vehicles that they need and so are extending their current leases well beyond the original three or four year termination point. This has been going on for some time.

“However, we are now hearing some reports from within our user base of leasing companies extending the car or van but refusing to do the same with the maintenance element. To some extent, this is understandable – once a vehicle is out of warranty and heading towards a six figure mileage, maintenance costs both increase rapidly and become less predictable – but it does leave those fleets high and dry.”

Peter said that, because the fleets in question habitually bought maintenance packages with their lease, they tended to have no arrangements for buying their own servicing in place.

“This is a double-edged problem, really. These businesses need to quickly create a structure for maintaining the vehicles in question while, at the same time, they lose the certainty of a fixed monthly maintenance cost.

“They may well find major bills arriving for items such as cambelts or a complete set of tyres that is massively in excess of what they are used to paying to keep their vehicles on the road. It’s quite a financial and managerial shock.”

There were no easy answers for businesses in this situation and it once again showed how difficult the effects of new car and van shortages could be, he added.

“Production delays are causing many kinds of issues, from slowing down electrification to service and maintenance conundrums of this kind. It really would help fleets if the supply situation started to markedly improve in 2023, although there are mixed reports about how likely that might be.”

Digitalising walkaround checks and defect reporting is the number one reason that businesses say they want to adopt fleet management software (FMS), according to FleetCheck.

An analysis of the top five reasons mentioned by companies planning to buy FMS also included, in order, removing a reliance on spreadsheets, improving compliance, centralising fleet data and ensuring that key diary dates such as MOT tests are recorded.

Peter Golding, managing director at the FMS specialist, said: “This survey has been compiled from businesses who have contacted us over the last year with a view to adopting our software to improve their fleet management – and it makes interesting reading.

“The fact that walkaround checks top the list shows that there continues to be a high level of interest in moving away from paper-based systems for these essential processes and towards the improvements that digitalisation can deliver. Further to this thinking, it’s also noteworthy that ‘improving compliance’ is mentioned prominently in the survey.

“Looking at other results, it’s interesting that the desire to move away from spreadsheets remains a key factor in FMS buying. This has been an argument for the adoption of specialist fleet software for many years and, as fleet management becomes ever more sophisticated, the limitations of using a spreadsheet are becoming ever more apparent.

“Finally, the desire to centralise data is something that has very much been driven by post-pandemic conditions. More people are still working from home, including those involved in managing the fleet, and having remote access to information is essential to them.”

Peter added that sales of fleet software continued to be strong, with FleetCheck having seen 25% growth in client numbers since the start of the year.

“This is very much a growth phase for FleetCheck. We have just moved into new offices as a result of our ongoing expansion and the reason, we believe, is that our products are directly answering the needs of fleets – as shown in this survey.”

Increased pressure on personal finances is creating new potential grey fleet dangers, FleetCheck is warning.

Peter Golding, managing director at the fleet management software specialist, said that drivers using their own cars for business were being tempted to cut corners to save money.

“The current economic situation means that even people on what might be called good incomes are feeling the pinch and looking to make savings. Their car is one place where they may well look to reduce expenditure.

“There are several ways in which they might try to achieve this. One is to postpone routine maintenance, either in the shape of regular servicing or in delaying replacing wear items like tyres and brake pads. Another is that they might reduce their insurance cover to third party only or not bother with the business element of their policy.

“We are already hearing anecdotal feedback that this is happening on some fleets and it is clear that fleet managers need to be extra-vigilant when it comes to the checks that they make on grey fleet drivers and vehicles.”

FleetCheck highlighted two weeks ago that the recent fall in company car numbers reported by HMRC almost certainly meant that the grey fleet was growing, probably as a result of drivers moving out of their fleet cars during successive lockdowns.

“Our view in the longer term is that these drivers will be attracted back into the company car fleet by the low-tax opportunity offered through EVs. However, until that point, grey fleet management is going to become a growing challenge for, both in terms of the shortcuts in expenditure that drivers might be tempted to make and there simply being more and older private cars being used on company business.

“It’s certainly an area where we are looking to offer increased support to our customer base and we expect other suppliers in the fleet sector to be doing the same. This is going to be one of the big issues of 2023 and beyond for our sector, we believe.”

News that three of the UK’s handful of hydrogen filling stations are closing at the same time that a raft of new models have been unveiled shows how the country is “slipping further behind” in adopting the fuel for road transport.

Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck, said that it was clear that other European countries and manufacturers were taking hydrogen ever more seriously as a zero emissions alternative to electric vehicles (EVs) but government support in the UK was seriously lacking.

He explained: “At the Paris Motor Show, we saw everything from new hydrogen panel vans to luxury saloons to sports cars, seemingly all with serious production intent. BMW also said that would have a new hydrogen car ready for sale by 2030. It really does feel as though there is genuine momentum building in this area.

“However, the corresponding news from the UK is that three of our existing hydrogen filling stations are closing, which means our total network is barely into double figures. There is a suggestion that these will be replaced with stations suitable for larger commercial vehicles in the future but there is no escaping the almost complete absence of provision right now.”

He pointed out that, as a contrasting example, the German government was involved in partnerships to expand their national filling station provision to 300 by the end of this decade.

“The difference between The UK’s 10-or-so hydrogen stations and Germany’s current 90-something is the gap between impossibility and viability in operational terms for the vast majority of fleets. By the time the Germans have 300, we will be slipping ever further behind.

“What appears to have happened is that the UK authorities have backed EVs to the exclusion of other options when elsewhere, there is much more of an accent on a blend of zero emissions fuels. That means we are competitive when it comes to EV charging point installation but that there is really no meaningful support for hydrogen.

“The Government’s hydrogen strategy, released last year, stated that the fuel would have a key role to play in road transport in the future but was unclear on how that would develop. Today, it’s still unclear and is obviously not helped by current political turmoil.”

Peter said that FleetCheck’s view, and one largely shared among its customer base, was that hydrogen had two main fleet applications – for commercial vehicles above around three tonnes and in places where charging points were unavailable or unviable.

“It can seem as though we are putting a lot of effort into making electrification work instances where hydrogen is potentially an easier and better solution. However, the situation is just not going to change in the UK unless there is a huge shift in government attitudes. An important source of road transport power is therefore going to be unavailable to UK businesses.”

New HMRC data that shows a marked fall in company car numbers probably also means that grey fleets are growing quite rapidly, says FleetCheck.

The news suggests that more drivers decided to take a cash option during the pandemic, said managing director Peter Golding, and are now using their own cars for business purposes.

He said: “There’s a relatively complex picture emerging here. Over the next few years, we expect overall company car numbers to grow as low taxation electric vehicles (EVs) come to form the majority of fleets. However, it also makes sense that in recent times, drivers who have been spending little time on the road because of lockdowns would want to opt-out of the fleet and take a cash allowance, even if only temporarily.

“What this means is that we are going through a phase where a relatively large number of people have moved out of fleet schemes – 80,000 according to the HMRC numbers – and are using their own vehicle for work purposes. This means a substantial growth in grey fleets and potentially also an increase in the proportion of drivers who are using their own cars quite intensively for business, rather than on a more occasional basis.”

Peter said that the trend would doubtless place a greater emphasis on grey fleet management, particularly in companies where there had been a large scale movement out of company cars.

“Grey fleet is, we believe, a generally neglected area of fleet management and this influx of new vehicles means that employers need to pay great attention to ensuring their house is in order in two key areas – risk management and the environment. Drivers using their own cars tend to opt for older, more polluting models, and this creates a lot of pressure to get these areas right.

“Certainly, we are already having conversations with our user base about this subject, covering everything from setting the right grey fleet policies to ensuring that our software is used effectively to both make sure that drivers and vehicles meet safety standards, and that the fleet carbon footprint remains on a downward trajectory.

“At the very least, companies should be aware that their grey fleet responsibilities are the same as for any company car and they need to cover basics such as licence checking and ensuring drivers have suitable business insurance.”

Peter added that it was also important to create a pathway for employees who had left the company car scheme to return at some point in the future.

“A company car will nearly always be safer, more environmentally friendly and generally cheaper for businesses to run than a grey fleet equivalent. Employers need to make the advantages of moving into a very low taxation EV as clear as possible to their drivers and encourage them to follow this route.”

FleetCheck software has been used to enable Wolseley UK’s new Earned Recognition accreditation from the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

The Warwick-based company, a leading plumbing, heating and cooling trade specialist merchant, operates FleetCheck’s core fleet management system – which is Earned Recognition approved – to produce all the maintenance key performance indicators required by the DVSA, which are then sent to official body on a weekly basis.

FleetCheck’s Driver app is also used to perform digital vehicle checks and all defect reporting takes place through the software, which also collects relevant data from some of Wolseley UK’s suppliers through bespoke interfaces.

Wolseley UK operates a fleet of over 800 vehicles across the country ranging from vans to HGVs and cranes.

Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck, added: “We’ve been a keen promoter of Earned Recognition since the scheme’s creation thanks to the advantages that it creates for fleets through technology and we’re pleased to help Wolseley UK earn accreditation.

“Earned Recognition saves time and increases accuracy for businesses operating commercial vehicles, as well as underlining their commitment to a genuine safety culture. More and more of our users – and fleets in general – are choosing to use it.”

Jess Partridge, national compliance manager for transport at Wolseley UK, said: “Just 5% of UK fleets have Earned Recognition status and we are very pleased to be formally accredited by the DVSA. It shows our customers and our colleagues just how committed we are to offering a high standard of health and safety on the road.

“When we first adopted the FleetCheck system a couple of years ago, the aim of achieving Earned Recognition was part of our decision making process and the company has played a key role in helping us become recognised.”

The DVSA’s Earned Recognition is a voluntary scheme that allows fleets to prove they meet driver and vehicle standards by continuously monitoring their own compliance using approved software such as FleetCheck.