December 2, 2024
Sara Davies
Articles
Our article addresses ten of the most common questions you may have about managing pool cars within your fleet. If you’re considering setting up a pool car scheme or already have one but want to scale it up successfully, read on.
Ten Most Common Pool Car Management Questions
1. Can I Use a Lease Car as a Pool Car?
There’s no reason why a leased car can’t be used as a pool car, as long as you inform your lease provider, following any guidelines they give you, and the car has fully comprehensive insurance. In fact, a leased car makes a great pool car, since it is brand new, fault-free and under warranty.
2. Is a Pool Car a Company Car?
No, pool cars are used by companies who find it makes more sense for their employees to have use of a car that belongs to the company they work for but want to avoid the expense of giving them a company car or simply don’t feel it is necessary. Companies who choose to have pool cars rather than company cars are able to utilise those cars for any of their employees who need them at the times they’re needed.
3. What Is a Pool Car Log?
For legal and tax purposes, accurate records of pool car usage must be maintained at all times. These should include, for each trip:
- Who is driving the car
- Journey date and time
- Mileage of the trip
- The vehicle’s routes
- Reasons for travel
- Refuel requirements
It is a good idea to invest in a tracker to see if the log book in the car is being kept up to date and to challenge any discrepancies in mileage. Most pool car management software will do these jobs for you.
4. Whose Responsibility is a Pool Car?
A pool car is in the company’s name and the company is responsible for keeping it in good condition. You will need to ensure it’s not damaged and if it is, that you have the necessary paperwork and protocol in place to recover costs.
5. What Is the Best Policy to Create for Pool Cars?
Having some policies will help determine how your pool cars should be managed. Are you happy for employees to use your pool cars exactly as they would a company car? Make sure there are no grey areas open to misunderstanding when you define your policies. Make it clear If you don’t want employees using the cars except for doing business errands or to commute. Define your company’s rules on how the cars are to be driven too and ensure all employees have access to driver training as needed and understand how to initiate it.
6. Do I Need Software to Manage Pool Cars?
This depends on the size of your organisation and the scope of its pool car initiative, however, for the majority of organisations it is useful to deploy software for the scheduling of the cars. By using an app, employees can see at a glance when a certain car is going to be available without needing to send an email or find someone to ask. Certain apps can track vehicles and trigger alerts if the car is going to be brought back in time or not, by registering when it hits a geographical boundary.
7. How Much Time is Needed Between Bookings?
This is up to your company and should take consideration of the likely delays drivers may face in your geographical area and in consideration of your business’s operations. However, a buffer time between bookings of 30 minutes would be wise for the majority of businesses.
8. Do I Need to Consider How Employees are Driving?
Yes it is important to make sure you have some telematics software installed into the vehicles so you can see reports of how the car is being driven. Most will allow you to see how hard the brakes are applied and how fast the car is driven as signs that the car is being driven carelessly. You will be able to review your logs to see which drivers are responsible and revoke their driving privileges where necessary.
9. How Will Car Keys be Managed?
Effective key management reduces the cost and coordination of keys, whether it be through the use of a key cabinet or a keyless entry solution. Your key management strategy should ensure that access to vehicles can be restricted to certain roles and members of staff where necessary and after hours. Certain pool management software solutions will include a keyless entry solution as part of their offering.
10. How Can I Manage Availability of Vehicles at Peak Times?
If you’re considering deploying a sizeable pool car operation then you should utilise a pool vehicle management software since such solutions are designed to easily calculate peak demand and ideal fleet size. Such software also ensures appropriate vehicles are selected according to roles, so if a booking doesn’t require a utility vehicle for example, and could be undertaken with a passenger vehicle, the more cost-effective passenger vehicle will be allocated. If an individual is not licensed for a particular vehicle or isn’t authorised to use vehicles between certain times, they won’t be able to book vehicles either.
If you want to access a fleet of vehicles you can use as pool cars or need help setting up pool cars for your business, get in touch here or call us on 01722 322 888. Our team will be happy to help.
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