{"id":3194,"date":"2019-08-08T16:27:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T14:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/?p=3194"},"modified":"2019-08-08T16:27:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T14:27:33","slug":"fleet-management-hasnt-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2019\/08\/08\/fleet-management-hasnt-changed\/","title":{"rendered":"Fleet Management Hasn’t Changed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Developing<\/p>\n

Developing a replacement policy, a budget, forecasting replacements, all of these basic fleet management functions are strategic, not tactical. Photo via\u00a0istockphoto.com\/Marisvector.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fleet Management Hasn’t Changed<\/h2>\n

The pace of technology as it applies to fleet management <\/a>can sometimes be overwhelming.\u00a0Telematics<\/a>, alternative fuels<\/a>, safety<\/a>, and more seem to advance almost daily, and it\u2019s no small task just to keep up. Much has been said and written about the \u201cchanging role of the fleet manager\u201d \u2014 that somehow, the foundational mission of the fleet manager is undergoing change like never before, and that fleet managers today are facing change and new technology that past fleet managers didn\u2019t have to deal with.<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m here to tell you that this is simply not true. And I have a sports analogy that helps explain why.<\/p>\n

Bobby Jones was playing at his peak back in the mid to late 1920s.\u00a0 He is generally considered to be one of, if not the, greatest golfers in the history of the game. Jones played golf with clubs with shafts made of hickory wood, balls that were often not precisely round, clubheads made of persimmon wood, and grips that were strips of leather wrapped around the shaft.<\/p>\n

Today, in 2019, Dustin Johnson plays golf with clubs with shafts made of graphite, club heads engineered out of titanium, irons with club heads half again larger than anything Jones used. Now let\u2019s ask the same question we\u2019re addressing here: has the game of golf changed? Has new technology changed it? No, to both questions.\u00a0Golfers today, like Johnson, have the exact same goals Jones had nearly a century ago:\u00a0hit the ball from tee to cup in as few strokes as possible.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s apply that analogy to fleet management. Fleet managers today have access to technology, data, and other tools that fleet managers only 25 or 30 years ago could only dream of.\u00a0Telematics gives them real time data, in detail that would boggle the mind of a fleet manager back then. Reporting? Creating reports is often just a matter of choosing what data to see, filtering for date range and other items, and clicking. Speccing vehicles is automated, as opposed to sitting down with a thick spec book, a green sheet, and a calculator.<\/p>\n

Same questions: has the role of the fleet manager changed?\u00a0Has modern technology changed it? As with our golf analogy, the answer is again, no.\u00a0The goal of the fleet manager in 1980 is precisely the same as that in 2019:\u00a0choose vehicles that are capable of completing the mission, and operating them in the safest and most cost efficient manner possible.<\/p>\n

Tactical vs. Strategic<\/h3>\n

I\u2019d like to start with the notion expressed by a number of fleet management experts that the role of the fleet manager is evolving from a tactical to a more strategic one. I\u2019m not sure what the basis for this idea might be. Fleet managers have always, at least in my experience, been strategic in their outlook.<\/p>\n

Long term planning has always been an integral part of the job. Developing and implementing fleet policy and processes; what fleet manager in any decade hasn\u2019t had to address this challenge? As strategic as it gets, regular updating is a critical part of such activity. Developing a replacement policy, a budget, forecasting replacements, all of these basic fleet management functions are strategic, not tactical. And fleet managers have had to perform these tasks since the profession was in its infancy.<\/p>\n

What today\u2019s fleet managers have, however, that they didn\u2019t have in the past is myriad data, information that simply wasn\u2019t available back then, or that became available days, weeks, sometimes months after the fact. Today, data is available real time, or near real time, which makes managing a fleet more effective and immediate. But that is a good example of the idea that it is the tools that are available that have and will continue to change, not the role.<\/p>\n

Indeed, one could make the case that the ability to outsource administrative and clerical functions, along with the new tools to capture and mine data, actually make the job easier than it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s More Important than Ever?<\/h3>\n
\"Sometimes,
Sometimes, people tend to look at today\u2019s challenges as the first time they\u2019ve arisen. Dealing with challenges is only different, not new. In 2008, pump prices went from a July peak of $4.15\/gallon for regular unleaded before plummeting to as low as $1.72\/gallon by November. How on earth does a fleet manager budget for fuel, the No. 1 operating cost, with insane price swings like that?\u00a0 Photo via\u00a0Gettyimages.com\/ysuel.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Recently, another fleet expert mused that rising vehicle costs and interest rates will force fleet managers to consider \u2018rightsizing\u2019 of their fleets to become more and more important. More important than what? Rising interest rates?\u00a0 Perhaps the speaker should look back to the early \u201880s, when interest rates were well into the double digits with prime rate hitting an astonishing 21.5% in December of 1980.<\/p>\n

Changes in interest rates aren\u2019t a new phenomenon, and fleet managers have had to deal with it for 50 years.\u00a0 Rising vehicle costs?\u00a0Perhaps I\u2019ve forgotten that period when fleet managers didn\u2019t have to deal with rising vehicle costs.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, people tend to look at today\u2019s challenges as the first time they\u2019ve arisen. Well, dealing with challenges is only different, not new. Take fuel prices, for instance. In 2008, pump prices went on a wild ride, from a July peak of $4.15 per gallon for regular unleaded before plummeting to as low as $1.72 per gallon by November. How on earth does a fleet manager budget for fuel, the No. 1 operating cost, with insane price swings like that?<\/p>\n

Well, how about no gas at all?\u00a0Fleet managers had to deal with the twin oil shocks of \u201972 and \u201979, the latter where stations ran out of supply regularly, and the government instituted the infamous \u201codd\/even\u201d license plate rules, where every other day, vehicles whose license plates ended with either odd or even numbers were able to purchase fuel.\u00a0Lines for blocks, even violence at the pumps were not unusual. Fleet managers have had to deal with the challenges of fuel prices as long as gasoline has been sold.\u00a0It isn\u2019t anything new today.<\/p>\n

Today, and for the past several years, interest rates have been relatively stable, as have fuel prices. With the U.S. now a net exporter of petroleum products, fleet managers have a much easier time budgeting and forecasting fuel costs.<\/p>\n

No More Cars?<\/h3>\n

Along those same lines, it has been further thought that this rightsizing in the face of changing OEM product lines bring about new challenges for fleet managers, as they must attempt to fit these new products into their selector decisions. That begs the question \u201cwhen haven\u2019t they been?\u201d Isn\u2019t choosing the right vehicle for the job size wise and otherwise a fundamental job of fleet management?\u00a0 And haven\u2019t fleet managers always had to deal with changing OEM product lines?<\/p>\n

Harkening back to the 1979 OPEC embargo, OEMs came out with brand new transverse engine, front wheel drive compacts, and fleet managers had to consider rightsizing their selectors to address those higher fuel prices and lack of supply. Minivans made their appearance in the early \u201880s, and crossovers began to supplant traditional SUVs soon thereafter. How about new vehicle technology? Today, we have telematics, lane intrusion warnings, backup cameras, cocooning air bag systems, and passive braking systems.\u00a0 The introduction and enhancement of vehicle technology proceeds at a dizzying pace.<\/p>\n

But what about the following, all new technology at one time or another, for fleet managers of the past?<\/p>\n