With the credit crunch having a knock on effect on local authority budgets, the combination of rising fuel prices, vehicle availability and changes in legislation means 2008 is shaping up to be a challenging year for fleet and transport managers.

This month we hear from Chris Sharp, Sales and Marketing Director of Burnt Tree Vehicle Solutions to find out whether outsourcing should be considered and whether ‘split’ fleets are relevant for local authorities.

Tasked with the smooth running of hundreds, if not thousands of vehicles, most local authority fleet managers are well aware of the issues affecting the various aspects of their vehicle portfolio. However, within the current economic climate, reassessing your fleet management could unlock some vital capital as well as a host of other benefits.

Outsourcing basically means you remove the day to day management of the fleet and the often time consuming tasks that brings like driver calls and service management. You could also benefits from additional services such as accident management and vehicle tracking. However, outsourcing isn’t for everyone and you need to do your homework.

The first consideration is do you need to outsource? What benefits and cost savings will it bring? Due to the differing structure of local authorities and their internal expertise the decision to outsource can vary considerably.

If you do decide it’s a possible route, remember a third party may take over the day to day running of your fleet but you never give up the overall responsibility on areas such as duty of care or corporate responsibility so choose your
partner wisely because you will be working closely with them. Certainly opt for a member of the BVRLA as members offer a level of quality assurance being bound by a code of conduct.

Make sure they have a clear understanding of the services you want and that service level agreements are central to the agreement . Once a partner is appointed, set clear review dates to ensure they are continually benchmarked against their competitors.

But it’s not just those considering outsourcing for the first time that could benefit from a fresh look at their fleet arrangements. Is your current provider giving you the best deal and how old are their vehicles? It may not seem an
important question but the younger the fleet the more fuel efficient it’s likely to be. Most of us fall into the trap of looking at the top line price i.e. the rental cost on a vehicle and go for the cheapest but this could be false economy.

New services are also being offered to the market by providers like Burnt Tree Vehicle Solutions. Newly introduced is the ‘split’ fleet; while more prevalent in the private sector at the moment it could certainly benefit some local authorities.

In the private sector it’s been adopted by companies looking to minimise business risk and outlay. Unsure about certain contracts or the longevity of parts of their business, they are now able to mix and match their fleet agreement. So some vehicles maybe on long term contract hire while others are on much shorter flexible terms.

The flexibility of this model is also very relevant to the local authority sector. Flexible vehicle rental is ideally suited to those that require different or extra vehicles to meet the peaks and troughs of seasonal demands, perhaps you need more cars or vans in the summer when your population swells or there’s a short term regeneration project which needs vehicle support. Why tie capital up in noncore depreciating assets and employee's time up in vehicle maintenance, admin when you can simply hire in, return or exchange vehicles without any commitment or penalties?

And because it’s part of an agreement with your main supplier vehicle availability shouldn’t be an issue either as its part of a planned and strategic fleet operation.

In conclusion now is a good time to reassess your fleet whether to outsource or not. Take a strategic but holistic approach to your portfolio to see where cost savings could be made and whether it could benefit other parts of your operation. Keep an eye on the latest services on offer from providers they could help you run your fleet better at a lower cost.