What is a fleet of vehicles?
Let's start by defining the term "fleet of vehicles".
A fleet of vehicles, or automobile fleet, refers to all the means of transport available to a company or association:
- Company cars
- Company vehicles
- Professional vehicles: light commercial vehicles or, in some cases, vans and trucks
- All other light vehicles such as two-wheelers, scooters or bicycles.
Depending on the size of the company and its needs, all these elements represent a substantial investment. It is therefore strategically crucial to optimize your fleet of vehicles to achieve substantial savings.
Challenges and objectives for the vehicle fleet
A fleet of vehicles has several challenges:
- Cost reduction: whether leasing or purchasing, grouping vehicles together enables better fleet management. This process gives you an overall view of your vehicles, thereby reducing their running costs.
- Maintenance
- Fuel
- Insurance
- Management
- Maintenance
- Better management and monitoring
- Issuing purchase orders
- Procurement
- Fleet renewal
- Allocation policy
- Pool vehicle availability
- Allocation policy
- Safety and fleet optimization
- Safety of passengers in the vehicle fleet by choosing the safest vehicles, for example
- Vehicle maintenance: depending on the service provider you choose, we can take care of your fleet's maintenance. This means you can outsource the maintenance and cleanliness of your fleet. Vehicles are renewed and always operational.
- Image/external communication
- Image by vehicle type: some vehicles have an image that can positively affect your company's image.
- Sustainable development
- Eco-driving
- CO2 emissions
As you can see, good fleet management will help you save money and better anticipate potential problems linked to the use of your vehicles.
The regulatory context: the laws to which companies are subject
One of the reasons why fleets are considering electrification is the regulations in force. In France, regulations vary according to company structure and size.
Quota of "clean vehicles" in fleets
The Energy Transition Act requires local authorities and public companies to have a 20% quota of low-emission vehicles (electric vehicles or vehicles with CO2 emissions "less than or equal to 60 grams per kilometer"). The quota will rise to 30% from July 2021.
The State and public establishments are required to meet a 50% quota.
Private companies
For private companies, Article 26 A of the LOM law sets phased targets (managing a fleet of vehicles with a total permissible laden weight of less than 3.5 t):
- 10% of this renewal as of January 1, 2022
- 20% of this renewal from January 1, 2024
- 35% of this renewal from January 1, 2027
- 50% of this renewal from January 1, 2030.
Companies will have to report annually on the percentage of low-emission vehicles that have replaced combustion engines.
As far as size is concerned, the article specifies a calculation method that does not allow the law to be circumvented. Indeed, " When assessing the size of the fleet managed by a company, the vehicles managed by its subsidiaries headquartered in France and the vehicles managed by its establishments located in France are taken into account. ".
In other words, if you have a fleet of 20 vehicles per subsidiary and you have 10 subsidiaries, the number of vehicles of the parent company is 200 vehicles.
EPZs increasingly widespread in France
Find out more: ZFE: what it means for commercial vehicles on the road.
The Greater Paris EPZ
The Metropole du Grand Paris validated its strategy with Plan Climat Air Énergie Métropolitain in 2018. Various measures will enable Paris to reduce the circulation of the most polluting vehicles through restrictive measures. The traffic restriction measures will be gradually tightened.
- Since July 2019, unclassified vehicles and Crit'Air 5 are banned from circulation
- From January 2021, Crit'Air 4 will be banned from circulation
- From July 2022, Crit'Air 3 vehicles will be banned from the road
- From January 2024, Crit'Air 2 will be banned from circulation
- By 2030, no combustion-powered vehicles will be able to enter the metropolis
The Greater Lyon EPZ
Since January 1, 2020, the Greater Lyon Metropolis has implemented a restrictive policy against the most polluting vehicles. A series of pollution peaks has convinced local politicians to take strong measures to improve air quality.
These traffic restrictions will continue to tighten over time, and companies will need to equip themselves with low-polluting vehicles if they wish to retain access to the city.
Such initiatives are not new. Several other cities in Europe and France are taking measures to restrict traffic in anticipation of pollution-related problems.
Find out more - Lyon: banned vehicles and aid... everything you need to know about the EPZ
How do you finance a fleet of vehicles?
Again, this depends on the company. There are several options when it comes to purchasing vehicles for your company.
- Cash purchase of the vehicle - you need a solid cash position for this type of purchase
- Long-term leasing - you pay fixed monthly installments that cover the use of the car and certain services to be negotiated with the leasing company.
- Leasing with purchase option company car - you pay a monthly installment. At the end of the contract, you can decide whether or not to buy the leased vehicle. This option gives you a great deal of freedom, because if the vehicle has increased in value during the lease period, you have the option of buying it back. If, on the other hand, the residual value of the vehicle has not changed, you can simply decide not to exercise your purchase option and buy another one.
By buying several vehicles for your company at once, you have greater negotiating power: you can tie all the cars to the same contract and benefit from sometimes substantial discounts on your rental payments or the final price. What's more, you can negotiate additional services for your fleet.
Find out more: how to carry out a fleet audit?
Good to know: the only way to be sure you're making the right decision when choosing car financing is to run cost simulations when buying or leasing vehicles.
How do you insure a fleet of vehicles?
It's a substantial budget for companies, but a necessary and compulsory expense under current regulations: vehicle insurance.
Here, too, you can save a great deal of money by taking the initiative. Good news! Insurance companies now offer "fleet insurance contracts", i.e. contracts tailored to the needs of each fleet.
Good to know: to benefit from a fleet insurance package, your company fleet must consist of at least 3 to 5 vehicles, depending on the insurance.
The insurance company uses several criteria to determine the price of the monthly instalment paid by the company:
- The number of vehicles
- Power (vehicle value)
- Vehicle age
- The company's activity: depending on the use of the vehicles, the price will vary. For example, if you transport people, the risk of accident will be greater, which will increase the monthly payments.
In order to make the best decision, you need to compare several quotes. If you have a large fleet of vehicles, you can launch a call for tenders to put the various fleet insurance players in competition with each other.
How do you manage a car fleet?
As a manager or company director, you have several options for optimizing the operation of a vehicle fleet. In both cases, it's a good idea to opt for fleet management software. Vehicles can be connected to a fleet telematics system.
Recruiting from within
The first solution to effective fleet management is to recruit a dedicated person.
The Fleet Manager's objective is to maximize the return on investment of the vehicles.
This person will be central to the company and will have various tasks:
- Purchase and maintenance of delivery vehicles.
- Decide whether to lease or buy vehicles.
- Help in recruiting quality drivers for the fleet if needed
- Choosing the best driving times for employees
- Manage drivers to respect strict schedules.
- Register and license all the vehicles they manage.
- Find ways to reduce costs and maximize profits.
- Develop strategies for greater energy efficiency.
- Keep detailed records of vehicle maintenance and inspection.
- Keep abreast of changes in current laws and regulations
- Plan regular vehicle maintenance to ensure operational efficiency.
- Guarantee service and maintenance slots to minimize downtime and meet maintenance schedules.
- Supervise driver behavior and ensure a high level of customer service.
- Analyze data to increase operational efficiency.
- Use of GPS systems to monitor drivers and track vehicles in the event of theft.
In short, it's a full-time job that's difficult to delegate to an average employee. The ideal profile would be someone who is sensitive to the logistical side of the business, but who also has the human qualities to understand the needs of his colleagues.
Today, the profile is evolving even more towards highly "data" oriented profiles who can analyze parameters specific to company vehicles, draw conclusions and make key recommendations to their management.
With the boom in mobility services and the use of shared company fleets, the position of fleet manager may well be transformed into that of mobility manager.
The tasks are different, but the aim is the same: to help employees get around better, while reducing costs for the company.
Outsource the fleet management of your vehicle fleet
If you don't want to or don't have the budget to recruit a fleet manager, you have the option of outsourcing your fleet management to a service provider outside your company. There are two ways of using "fleeters":
- A rental company can manage your fleet for you if you sign a contract with them: it's a new service born of demand from rental company customers.
- An independent fleet manager can help you save money on your fleet management by comparing different quotes and contracts: it's simple, you can save more by using an independent fleet manager, who will compare several rental companies.
Obviously, the larger the fleet, the greater the savings.
Why use an external fleet manager?
Free up time
The main reason is to to relieve management of redundant operational time-consuming operational tasks. As we saw above, fleet management is an important job that requires both analytical and human capacity to function.
Delegating this task to an external service provider allows them to take the time to identify areas for improvement and propose concrete solutions for optimizing your company's vehicle fleet.
Extending your expertise
Fleeters also enable companies to benefit from expertise and a 360° vision that they wouldn't necessarily have in-house.
Most fleet managers have their own in-house technology that connects to existing technology and which they link to their customers.
How much does it cost? It depends on the service provider. Generally speaking, after set-up costs, you can expect to pay up to €40 per vehicle per month.
Depending on the size of your company, you can also request tailor-made management tools to suit your sector.
Comfort and optimization
It's important not to forget that managing a vehicle fleet involves the entire lifecycle of the vehicle. You also have to keep track of invoices from leasing companies to avoid any surprises, take care of tires, and send reminders to employees about vehicle maintenance.
Good to know: when signing a contract with a fleet manager, be sure to negotiate the return of processed data, so that you can change service providers if you wish to compete with another manager.
If you don't have the resources in-house, it's a good idea to consider an external fleet manager to reduce your company's vehicle expenses.
How to optimize a fleet of vehicles?
No matter how you manage your fleet (in-house or via an external service provider such asfleeter"), you need to ask yourself how you can optimize your vehicle fleet. In order to optimize your fleet, the first step is an exhaustive diagnosis of your company's vehicle fleet.
Stage 1: Audit of the existing situation using a multi-criteria diagnosis
What is a multi-criteria diagnosis? In simple terms, it's an audit of the existing fleet to identify problem areas, possible improvements and the overall cost of the fleet.
In order to carry out a detailed diagnosis of your company's vehicle fleet, you need to
- Collect fleet data
- Analyze these data
- Interview employees to find out more about their habits (needs and wishes, frequency of vehicle use, etc.).
- Standardized inventory of fixtures
Step 2: Cost optimization
Once the diagnosis has been carried out, we need to think about the next steps, which take the form of summary sheets, a report summarizing possible solutions for the fleet, and a detailed action plan to set the objectives to be achieved.
The choice of cost-cutting levers requires an analytical approach based on up-to-date comparative tools, which translates into concrete actions:
- Optimizing existing resources
- Arbitrate decisions: young fleet / old fleet, purchase / long-term rental
- Define a fleet acquisition and renewal policy
- Recommendations for improving management processes
Step 3: Award policy
This is a crucial part of fleet optimization. It is characterized by interviews with the employees who use the vehicles, and who are therefore at the heart of the decisions to be taken in the future. This is followed by recommendations for vehicle use: optimization of operating hours, quality of driving, etc...
Step 4: Computers and software
As we saw earlier, telematics is a crucial component of fleet management. But before choosing the software that will support your cost-cutting efforts, you need to ask yourself the right questions.
What information does the company want to collect? How will it be used? In order to choose the best IT tool, a preliminary needs analysis must be carried out. Once your needs have been defined, you can compare the software packages best suited to your needs, and draw up an offer analysis report.
That's it! You know everything there is to know about vehicle fleets. If you'd like a fleet audit to help you make your energy transition, please contact us here!
Read also: TCO (Total cost of ownership): how to calculate and optimize it?
Electric vehicle fleet: the keys to a successful energy transition
There are no golden rules when it comes to fleet electrification. For most companies, the question of electrification arises if :
- the regulatory context is forcing companies to ask themselves this question
- fleets want to save money
- the ecological transition is central to the company's CSR policy
At present, it's quite rare to come across a 100% electric fleet. Most fleets are starting to electrify their fleets little by little.
When we talk about a fleet of electric vehicles, we're usually talking about several types of vehicle: hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric. Only electric cars are considered to be clean vehicles, but some fleets want to include hybrids for added reassurance.
Reduce your TCO: Know the opportunities of electric vehicles
We often forget that electric vehicles are less expensive to run and can save companies a great deal of money.
- Cheaper fuel (€1.5 to €2 per 100 km on average)
- Low maintenance costs
- Silence (less noise pollution)
- No exhaust emissions
- Comfort (fewer accidents, less sick leave, etc.)
This is where calculating TCO can be useful for car fleets. TCO (total cost of ownership) includes all costs associated with a vehicle over the entire period of ownership.
Electric vehicles save more fuel and maintenance than gasoline. But above all, you benefit from numerous tax advantages that will reduce the TCO even further: no tax on the use of passenger vehicles for economic purposes, maximum depreciation bracket, often free parking, etc...
A 360° view of the implications of electric vehicles
If you decide to opt for a fof electric vehicles, you need to anticipate certain parameters.
- Recharging: a crucial point. Where can you recharge your electric vehicle? Which charging station to choose? Which wattage? Depending on the employer and the type of business, it may or may not be possible toinstall charging stations in the workplace. As a company, you may be eligible for a number of grants that can reduce the cost of such installations: the Advenir program allows companies to benefit from a 40% grant up to a limit of €1,360 on the installation of a recharging point (including equipment and installation).
- Types of bollards to install: if you decide to opt for several different types of vehicle, you'll need to know which types of bollard are suitable for each. Failure to anticipate this can lead to friction.
- Budget: As we saw above, electric vehicles cost less to run, which may enable you to switch to a different range of vehicles when you order your new ones.
- Because policy : it's time to rethink car policy when switching to a fleet of electric vehicles. Why is this? Because these are new products, and their handling is not the same. For example, an electric vehicle is better suited to frequent stops than its internal combustion counterpart.
- Specific insurance : electric vehicles are specific and require insurance designed specifically for electric vehicles.
To avoid falling into unnecessary traps, it's a good idea to enlist the help of electric vehicle experts.
What are the consequences of electrifying your fleet?
A successful CSR policy
Many companies agree that CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is a strategic component of their business. This CSR policy takes the form of various actions within the company, but can also be reflected in the company's choice of vehicles. A fleet of electric vehicles is a way for companies to highlight their commitment to a more sustainable transport future.
A strong employer brand
Electric cars are very comfortable and quiet. If your employees need to drive for long periods, this is a positive factor for recruiting and retaining them over the long term.
This is particularly the case for last mile Delivery drivers spend hours in their vehicles, and driving a silent vehicle can change their daily lives.
Beyond the comfort aspect, the image conveyed by electric vehicles is very positive, and can consequently improve the image of the company equipped with them.
Electric vehicles are seen as one of the best alternatives for reducing CO2 emissions. Companies opting for electric vehicles also benefit from significant press coverage: Chronopost, for example, has finalized an order for 420 electric vehicles in 2019, and Schneider Electric will have a 100% electric fleet by 2030. By opting for electric cars, these companies have been able to communicate their ambitious CSR policy.
