November 30, 2023
Abby Nuttall
Articles
There’s no one size fits all when it comes to business fleets so knowing what the right size and vehicle make up for your fleet isn’t a quick answer. One of the services we offer as a fleet management company is helping businesses determine what they want their fleet to look like and then getting them there. Part of the decision-making process is working out the right size fleet of fleet for the business.
Having the right size fleet is an essential part of ensuring you’re not spending money on unused resources, that there are enough vehicles for the drivers who need them and that they are appropriate for driver’s needs.
Five Things to Consider When Deciding on Your Fleet Size
To help you get a better idea on the right size fleet for your business we recommend asking yourself the below five questions. Your answers will help you know how many vehicles you really need in your fleet.
1. Are Your Employees Required to Drive for Their Role?
First, you should think about if there are jobs within your company that require your employees to drive. These can be varied roles and need a number of different vehicles to suit the role and it’s important you’re aware of this.
Some of the most common roles that require employees to drive include:
- Salespeople; travelling to and from clients and potential clients
- Delivery personal; making deliveries
- Catering staff; they may need to travel to events or need specialist vehicles to transport or work
Obviously there may be other roles in your business that require drivers, and depending on your company these could be very niche jobs so it’s worth taking a look at your full employee list and considering how they may be required to drive in their individual job.
2. How Many Drivers are There in the Business?
Next, you want to consider how many of your employees are drivers. There will be some overlap between this and the previous question but the answers will be slightly different and help you determine the size of your fleet. For example, you might only have 10 roles that require driving but decide that you want to offer company car benefits which then increases the fleet to 30 vehicles. Or if you offer pool vehicles to employees you will want to make sure you get an appropriate number.
Additionally, the number of employees with access to use fleet vehicles will determine some of the associated costs and resources you need with driver training, licence checks and other employee support your fleet managers provide.
3. Do You Need Specialist Vehicles?
There are some roles that require specialist vehicles or equipment. Such as a fridge truck for transporting food, or a minibus for transporting multiple employees or clients. When deciding on the overall size of your fleet you need to consider its make up and whether there need to be any specialised vehicles, how many of them you need and the increased costs of the vehicle itself and any associated training, licencing etc.
4. What Company Car Schemes and Benefits Do You Offer? Or Do You Want To?
We’ve already touched on how the number of drivers in your business will differ from the number of employees who need to driver for their job, and one of the most significant ways this will impact your potential fleet will be if you offer any company car schemes. This includes company cars, car allowances and salary sacrifice schemes as you will have a duty of care for the drivers and their vehicles. So, you want to consider the car benefits you currently offer, how many employees these are available to and any prospective changes to this.
5. How Much Can You Afford to Spend on Your Fleet?
The finances can have a big impact on the size of your fleet so it’s important that you know what budget you are working with and how you can best use this.
One thing to consider is how you fund the vehicles, as there are leasing and purchasing options (LINK) that allow you to pay monthly rather than having a large upfront outlay.
It won’t just be the cost of the vehicles you need to consider but all of the associated costs as well. As a business there will be more associated costs than you have with your own personal car, and these include:
- Vehicle maintenance (mots, servicing and any repairs)
- Taxing vehicles
- Insurance
- Driver support and training
- Driving licence checks
- Any permits to drive / or park where needed
- Any fines from driver
As your business evolves your fleet will need to change alongside it so what was the right size of fleet for you last year is unlikely to be the right size for you next year and we recommend reviewing your fleet needs, including its size, annually.
Enjoyed this article? Read more of our latest blogs below:
- Prepparing Your Fleet for Winter
- Looking After Your Company Car Winter Edition
- Your EV in Cold Weather
- Meet the Wessex Fleet Management Team
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