Indeed, fleet controllers are becoming an integral part of any business in their attempts to ensure and maintain high standards of service when administering and managing a multinational fleet of vehicles.

As a result, financially and commercially astute fleet controllers are in high demand to meet expectations that include ensuring budgetary constraints are met, cost savings are highlighted and innovative fleet procedures are developed. This comes at a time where fleet management companies are required to meet existing service level agreements in a more challenging marketplace.

Multinational fleet management companies produce long term fleet plans to maintain first-rate fleet availability and turnaround time. In the creation and implementation of these plans, long term trends that include rising fuel costs, meeting green issues and changes in technology must be considered. This is in addition to the more traditional multinational fleet control and management duties such as the purchase, maintenance and repair, and disposal of company vehicles in a variety of locales. These issues provide the fleet controller with a challenging role, especially when fleet sizes can be in excess of 1000 fleet vehicles across a range of countries.

Indeed, many fleet managers will often state that environmental issues are an essential consideration; nowadays it is important that fleet managers maintain a proactive approach by ensuring the necessary strategic changes are made. These include restructuring business travel procedures by replacing business mileage with video conferencing. In addition, it is wise to continuously assess the fleet to determine its environmental footprint and where necessary, provide training to encourage efficiencies.

Safety issues are also high on the agenda. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into effect in April 2008 where employers can be held liable for the death of individuals caused by failings in health and safety. As a result, various fleet management companies have begun to offer risk assessment services to identify high-risk drivers; ensuring training and re-education.

Furthermore, the high cost of fuel in recent times continues to have a major impact on the operation and management of large fleets. Therefore, fleet controllers are required to find ways of lowering fuel costs and operating expenses, whilst maintaining high service delivery standards. And the solution may involve the continual assessment of current practices and procedures to highlight cost savings.

But in multinational fleet management, successful fleet controllers must rise to the challenge to ensure fleet maintenance is delivered against agreed service levels and standards. And to do this, it is vital that internal budgets are managed to minimise the impact of rising fuel costs, health and safety, changes in technology, as well consideration of environmental issues.

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