{"id":7196,"date":"2023-06-06T14:19:55","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T13:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=7196"},"modified":"2023-06-06T14:22:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T13:22:16","slug":"driving-critical-fleets-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=7196","title":{"rendered":"Driving critical fleets forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mark Benson – Rivus<\/p><\/div>\n

With the pressures on public sector finances at an all-time high, we talk to Mark Benson, Emergency Services Fleet Consultant, at award winning fleet solutions provider, Rivus, about ways that critical public service fleets can maximise vehicle availability and fleet efficiencies to deliver significant cost savings, freeing up budget which can be redeployed to other areas within the organisation that require it the most.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWith public services under increasing pressure to deliver more services with less funding, the need for innovative solutions to generate cost savings and provide sustainable service improvements has never been greater.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to the management of public sector fleets, procurement decisions can be weighted towards price. An example of this can be the north south divide in choice of vehicle manufacturers. If the capital cost of an asset is less, then this can deliver cost savings. However, this could be a false economy as the manufacturer may have a higher degree of vehicle off road time. As such, I would recommend a decision based on the whole life cost of the asset. This is where all elements such as fuel, insurance, tax, servicing and maintenance costs are included to ensure added value can be derived.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaximising vehicle availability by reducing off road time, lowering the costs of unscheduled events through preventative maintenance and finding other ways to increase in-house garage capacity at peak times can all create cost efficiencies that can be reinvested into newer, more efficient vehicles or staff training and recruitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is the public sector embracing the latest fleet management efficiencies?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEfficiencies that could be considered a gold standard in outsourced fleet management such as strategic procurement, ensuring vehicles are fit for purpose and sourcing preventative maintenance solutions from a reliable partner, as well as avoiding running vehicles for longer than their shelf life could be adopted more widely within the public sector. Tender processes can often be structured to evaluate only the costs of running a fleet, rather than considering outsourcing as the tender scoring process is not set up to capture the wider value add.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake vehicle availability and measuring off road times as an example. Vehicle availability in critical fleets is circa 95% and is often reported as such through fleet management data. However, look more closely at the data and does this figure really take into account the time in garage, waiting time in a forecourt for a technician to become available or parts to arrive? Some service, maintenance and repair providers only measure vehicle off road time from when the vehicle goes onto the ramp, rather than taking account of the time the vehicle is sitting on site and waiting for parts to arrive or sat at dealerships waiting to be worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRivus consistently delivers industry leading Vehicle off Road (VoR) \u00a0times for its customers, with an average of 97%-98%%, which can significantly increase with the adoption of our innovative Vehicle Check app. Rivus track VoRs rate from the time the vehicle arrives at one of its garages.<\/p>\n

What is fleet outsourcing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA simple definition of fleet outsourcing is the handing over of the responsibility for managing vehicle service bookings, taking care of fleet administration such as parking fines, clean air zone charges and so on, vehicle service, maintenance and repair to an external party. Public sector organisations should consider outsourcing when there is potential for certain support functions to be completed more quickly, efficiently and cost effectively by an external specialist. Tasks that are not core competencies of the organisation are prime for being contracted out, so the fleet team can focus on operating the fleet.<\/p>\n

What are the benefits of outsourcing fleet management?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn short, substantial. From cost reduction, increased efficiency, expanded services to specialist expertise. Outsourcing potentially allows you to focus your resources on your core activities. But for it to be successful the decision needs to be an informed and collaborative one from procurement, fleet managers and the fleet management partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cRivus is known as the experts in managing critical fleets and the biggest benefit for our customers is the consultancy, advice and guidance, drawing on our data driven approach, our extensive independently owned garage network and our expertise in capacity planning. This enables us to achieve optimum vehicle uptime and reduce unplanned or unscheduled maintenance events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which elements of fleet provision can be \u2018outsourced\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fleet management services can and will cover all aspects of an organisation\u2019s fleet operations considering culture, objectives, cost and relationships. It is essential that you collaborate with your outsourced partner to build a fully bespoke response to your fleet needs \u2013 there is no one size fits all approach. We found this recently working with a government department who were keen to improve environmental credentials of their fleet yet had to consider the rural locations of its vehicles and access to garages.<\/p>\n

We were able to work closely with then to understand the operational requirements of the fleet and propose a mobile service, maintenance and repair solution to maintain essential fleet vehicles out in the field (quite literally!).<\/p>\n

Not everything lends itself to outsourcing but a blended approach with a trusted partner delivers a win for everyone, offering a centralised solution with modular services built in, which include a combination of the services below.\u201d<\/p>\n

Potential fleet management services for outsourcing:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Economic review and consultancy<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Supplier terms negotiation<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Structure of maintenance policy<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Supply and management of data<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Automated invoicing<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reporting\u00a0for\u00a0key stakeholders<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Management of\u00a0existing suppliers<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Duty of Care advice\/management<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mileages capture<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Integrated accident management<\/p>\n

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