58% of Fleet Managers Earn More Than $50,000

A majority of fleet managers feel that they have been compensated fairly in 2000, according to Automotive Fleet’s biennial survey of 230 fleet managers. But 44 percent of the respondents said they were under-compensated. Dennis Goodman, motor pool administrator for the County of Genesee in Flint, MI, comments, “Our county tends to use Kent County, MI, as a basis for salary and duty comparisons. People in comparable positions there make more. Kent’s fleet is 250. Ours is over 400. Their motor pool administrator has an assistant who makes more than I do, and the motor pool administrator makes several thousand more than I do.” Shannon Gaddy, purchasing/leasing agent for One Price Clothing Stores Inc. in Spartanburg, SC, says, “Due to all of the things I oversee and process, there is not enough time in the day and I often take things home.” Fleet managers who earned more than $50,000 increased by 4.1 per-cent, up from 53.5 percent in 1998 to 57.6 percent in 2000. Overall, about 58 percent of fleet managers earned more than $50,000 in 2000.

Women Earning More Than $50,000 Increase

In the high end of the pay scale, 45.5 percent of female fleet managers earned more than $50,000 in 2000, up from 35.7 percent in 1998. In comparison, the percentage of male fleet managers who made more than $50,000 remained steady at 63.1 percent. While none of the female fleet managers surveyed earned more than $100,000 in our previous survey, 6 percent earned more than $100,000 in 2000, compared to 5.5 of their male fleet managers. While it seems that female fleet managers are closing the salary gap in the high-income bracket, salary statistics for those who earned $30,000 and below tell a different story, however. About 21 percent of female fleet managers earned $30,000 and below in 2000, as op-posed to only 4 percent of their male counterparts. In fact, the percentage of female fleet managers who earned $30,000 and below went up, from 12.5 per-cent in 1998 to 21.2 percent in 2000.

More Fleet Managers Provided with Company Vehicles

One notable aspect of this year’s survey is that the percentage of fleet managers who were provided a com-pany vehicle went up from 20.3 per-cent in 1998 to 33 percent in 2000. With some companies having diffi-culty in recruiting employees, com-pany vehicles are increasingly of-fered as perks to attract potential employees and retain current ones.

Fleet Managers Offer Comments on Under-Compensation

A male government fleet manager who oversees more than 1,000 vehi-cles in the West says, “A new salary review was conducted by HR Dept. regarding my compensation in 2000, and its finding is that I should be paid 32 percent higher. I only re-ceived a 10-percent raise.” In the Southeast, a fleet manager, who has more than 20 years experi-ence and who oversees more than 500 vehicles for a $1 billion com-pany, says, “For the responsibilities and accomplishments achieved, I feel I contribute more value and should be paid more.” Another male fleet manager, who oversees the fleet of a $1 billion company in the Great Lakes says, “I feel I am below the scale for fleet administrators with an MBA.” In the West, a female fleet man-ager, who feels that she is 10 percent underpaid, says, “There is an overwhelming amount of stress and re-sponsibility with this position that I feel should be addressed.” In the Southwest, a female fleet manager, who has worked full-time for more than six years, says, “After developing and implementing cost savings, I feel that by saving $100,000 in a year, it should be reflected more in my salary.” A female fleet manager who over-sees more than 500 vehicles in the Middle Atlantic and who has more than six years experience says that “years of experience and size of fleet should increase compensation.”

Economic Boom of ’90s Boosts Salaries

The 1990s brought on the longest, uninterrupted economic expansion in the U.S. history. But did it also benefit in boosting the overall salaries of fleet managers? For the most part, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Overall, in the past decade, salaries of fleet managers who earned $50,000 showed an upward trend. In 1992, 32 percent of fleet managers earned more than $50,000; 48 per-cent in 1994; 49 percent in 1996; and 53.5 percent in 1998; and 58 percent in 2000. The percentage of male fleet managers who earned more than $50,000 increased from 44 percent in 1992, to 56 percent in 1994, 57 percent in 1996, and 63.1 percent in 1998. Likewise, the percentage of fe-male fleet managers who made $50,000 or more increased from 18 percent in 1994, to 25 percent in 1996, and 35.7 percent in 1998, and 45.5 percent in 2000. While both male and female commercial fleet managers’ salaries benefited from the booming economy, there were twice as many male fleet managers as female commercial fleet managers who were earning more than $50,000 annually in the 1990s. There also was a huge salary discrepancy between male and female fleet managers who earned $30,000 and below. In 1992, 2 percent of male commercial fleet managers made $30,000 and below, 8 percent in 1994, 5 percent in 1996, 6 percent in 1998, and 4 percent in 2000. In contrast, there were far more female commercial fleet managers who were concentrated in the $30,000-and-below income bracket: 44 percent in 1992, 16 percent in 1994, 23 percent in 1996, 12.5 percent in 1998, and 21 percent in 2000. However, the economic expansion of the past decade told a different story for government fleet manager salaries. In 1992, roughly 50 percent of government fleet managers were earning more than $60,000. But after 1992, the percentages of government fleet managers who made more than $60,000 had decreased gradually: 46 percent in 1994, 35 percent in 1996, and 25.4 percent in 1998. In the utility fleet industry, the percentages of fleet managers who earned more than $50,000 fluctuated somewhat: 59 percent in 1992, 88 percent in 1994, 49 percent in 1996, 46.5 percent in 1998, and 55.5 per-cent.