Comparing the CFO With the Fleet Manager

COMMENTS

1. 1. Brian Reynolds [ December 04, 2009 @ 01:50PM ]

   Fleet Managers are expected to operate more like IT managers within the corporate world. When we pick up a phone, we automatically expect to hear a dial tone. When we turn on our computer, we automatically expect that we can connect to the internet and all our applications without hesitation. These things are expected to work without fail. Much the same, staff expect a vehicle to be available, and fully functional when they turn the key.
   
   As part of the support structure of most organizations, a fleet manager will only be recognized when something is wrong in the normal operations. We are not generally considered part of the front line of operations (excluding transportation industry) and are not part of the revenue stream, but rather, we are an expense to the organization in most cases.
   
   In the world today where most companies are far more concerned with the bottom line than they have been in recent history, the fleet manager will still be left in the dust because savings in the fleet are generally calculated in cents per mile, or cents per gallon. While significant in the volume we deal with, the statistics are hardly attention grabbing when executives are reading their beloved reports.
   
   Rather than thinking of us as similar to the CFO, I think we are much more like the liver of the organization. Not loved on its own, but when operating properly in the organization as a whole, we are completely necessary and critical to the success and survival of the organization.