Disruption Set to Hit the Fleet Industry, Rivervale Recommend Fleet Policy Reviews

The fleet industry can expect disruption in the coming months and years, however how much disruption you encounter is well and truly down to you as the fleet manager.

Now let’s be fair, the government, despite their inability to provide concrete dates, have made it clear through their road to zero strategy that the future of UK roads will be greener, cleaner and fossil fuel free. The difficulty for those responsible for fleets is how to seamlessly comply with legislation and continue to operate efficiently and effectively druing this period of change and uncertainty.

The Government only recently announced that from 2035, possibly even 2032, petrol, diesel and even hybrids will be banned from production. It’s important to make clear the ban is on production, not use, so in theory should you want to, you could still use a petrol, diesel or hybrid.

You may however want to ask yourself why, as the incentives as well as pressures to go green are only going to increase. Some of those incentives/pressures are already in place with ULEZ compliance strictly monitored in central London, the Mayor of Bristol banning fossil fuel vehicles and a number of other major cities working towards clean air zones at this very moment! For those operating fleets with vehicles that need to access such areas, you really don’t have much choice. Which brings us on to another point, choice, lets face it, there isn’t a great deal of choice for fleet operators at this moment in time. What we do know is that’s set to improve quickly and dramatically in a short spavve fo time with an impressive number of electric models being introduced this year and nex. With change comes uncertainty and questions around, lead times, availability, price point, infrastructure and maintenance are all valid to ask. Whats important is that you should be asking these questions now and how as a business you are going to deal with them, once the goall posts are moved.

Our advice is to start with what’s most important to you. CO2 limits and budgets following WLTP can impact your decision quite significantly, and let’s not forget about total cost of ownership. However, if you are a grey fleet provider it may be the impact of the latest Benefit in kind tax rules coming in to play in April 2020. The zero tax rate on all electric vehicles is bound to see a number of employees opt or request to drive BEV’s for the financial saving they can make….who wouldn’t?

However we can flip the script and look at it from a fleet operator managing LCV’s for tradesmen where green vehicles are essential to access clean air zones and win tenders. Whatever your scenario there will be a dilemma during the creation of your strategy and that’s why we are recommending a Fleet Policy Review.

What does a Fleet Policy Review entail?

Our Fleet expert is perfectly placed to assess your needs and guide you through the entire process, covering off compliance, health and saftey, acqusition and total cost of ownership.

• A key aspect is reviewing your choice of vehicle/manufacturer to suit the needs of the business, while in principle it’s fine to say get an all-electric fleet but for those doing long distance motorway mileage diesel is still the right option.

• The total cost of ownership should be considered as although upfront costs for electric options may be higher, the total savings from fuel and tax can be quite substantial.

• Acquisition and approaches to funding can be looked at in greater detail, where leasing an electric product will make more sense to many eliminating concerns around out of warranty faults, residual values and re-sale.

• Now is the time to start looking into this because the next lifecycle of vehicles will fall into new policy, it’s not always cool to be late to the party, especially if it costs you time, money and reputation.

If you manage any kind of fleet, we reccommend you request a Fleet Policy Review to help create your own strategy to compliance.

Request a Fleet Policy Review or call us on 01273 433480 to find out more