The job of managing a fleet is complex, with the added challenges of going green and ongoing cost cutting. An integral cost of running a fleet is the motor fleet insurance budget. Recent surveys have shown that 30% of companies are undergoing reviews of their company car policies. The focus is a combination of health and safety, environment and cost efficiency when reviewing the management of fleets.

Some of the financial patterns that can be seen in addition to fleet insurance investment are detailed here from research done when surveying 110 employers using questionnaires and additionally 18 companies where an in depth study was done. 88% of companies currently allow status car users to go for the cash option instead of a car, but in the case of job need drivers under 36% are given this option.

There is also deep analysis regarding fuel usage and the choice of funding options. Central also and with financial implications is C02 where the trend is that many fleets have put a cap on emissions are many more are doing so. Companies are encouraging with incentives to opt for hybrid cars and to lower emissions. Some are also providing diesel only vehicles and there is an increased commitment to monitoring C02 emissions. Although the green fleet policies are increasing generally the research showed that the prominent influential sector in this action are the large organisations. If an organisation has over 10,000 staff these were the ones that had drafted their policy with the environment in mind whereas companies of 250 staff or less results show that only 40% of these are dealing with the green issues. When the various sectors were surveyed it was the financial sector that came up smelling of roses for going green for their fleet policies.

Regarding health and safety issues a number of employers have now reached the conclusion that their drivers would be safer and more protected in company vehicles. There seems to be a trend where the cash allowance schemes are being pulled. Many organisations have been prompted by the new legislation to assess the risks which are associated when employees are allowed to use their own cars, with the conclusion that cars provided by the company carry less risk.

Where the cash option is available the survey shows that there is an increasing number of the status car drivers who are choosing this option, which in their case can amount to figures from 10,000 pounds to as much as 28,000. The survey showed that just under 54% of board members took this option. Whereas at a junior manager level where the amount would be around 4,500 pounds only 32% of this group opted for it. With the job-need driver group where the amount is more or less the same as junior managers just under 30% took it.

When calculating allowances the majority of companies tend to use survey benchmarking against their market and one third of fleets review the figures every years, with another 37% who review the figures every two to three years. Apart from the obvious costs discussed and the motor fleet insurance, there are also the hidden cost of the administrative work which has to be done to maintain, implement and review these fleets and fleet policies.