NAFA Survey Finds Fleets Pay More For Personal Use

According to NAFA's 1976 person­al use survey, fleets are paying sub­stantially higher reimbursement rates for the use of personally owned cars for business, but not collecting much higher rates for personal use of the company-provided car.

A total of 188 fleets, operating more than 140,000 passenger cars, participated in the 1976 survey. A report on the personal use policies of public utility and government fleets has been published as a separate report in the February issue of the NAFA Bulletin.

Highlights of the survey include:

• The percentage of fleets charging seven cents a mile or more for personal use remained at the same level as in the 1975 survey.
• Fleets paying 15 cents a mile or more for the business use of a person­ally owned car jumped from 31-per­cent in the 1975 survey to 57-percent in the 1976 study.
• The number of fleets making no charge at all for personal use of com­pany provided cars actually increased slightly in the 1976 survey - 17-per­cent as compared to 15-percent in 1975.
• A substantially greater number of fleets are charging the operator for at least a portion of repair costs result­ing from accidents during personal use - 42-percent, as opposed to 33-per­cent in the 1975 survey.

There are 40 fleets operating 38,800 passenger cars (7,315 company owned, 31,485 leased) in the Manufacturing Industrial Group. Of the 40 fleets, all but one permit personal use of the company-provided car. Three fleets place limits on its use - 1) driven only 50 miles from place of garaging; 2) 150 miles a week, and 3) 2,500 miles a year.

Thirty-five fleets in the group charge for personal use; four make no charge. Nineteen fleets base their charge on mileage driven; 12 have a flat personal use charge, while four have a combination of both a flat rate and a mileage charge.

The mileage charges range from four (4) to 15c a mile. The charges are: 4c - 1 fleet; 5c - 2; 6c - 1; 6½c - 2; 7c - 3; 7½c - 1; 8c - 3; 9c - 2; 10c - 1; and 15c a mile - 2. One fleet charges only for gasoline used on personal driving.

Those fleets with a flat rate for per­sonal driving have these charges: $3.50 a week - 1 fleet; $5 a week - 1; $20 a month - 1; $22 a month - 1; $25 a month - 1; $28 a month - 1; $30 a month - 1; $35 a month - 1.

A number of fleets in the group have special chargebacks for personal use. They include: 5c a mile over 3,000 miles a year; $35 a week plus 12c a mile for every mile over 250; one fleet charges one-half of one percent of the car's value per month; another's charges range from $10 to $65 a month de­pending on the car driven; one charges $36 a week plus 7½c a mile; while one has a $16 a month minimum charge plus 8c a mile up to 4,200 personal miles, then 12½c a mile.

Twenty seven fleets in the group collect for personal mileage by ex­pense report deductions, while eight have a salary deduction program.

Every fleet in the group but one permits the employee's spouse to drive the company car; 16 permit licensed children to drive; and three permit the car to be used by "others." Fourteen fleets set age limits for driving the car ranging from 18 (the lowest) to 25.

Nineteen fleets in the group charge the driver a portion of the repair costs resulting from accidents during per­sonal use. None charge the full amount; two have a fixed dollar amount ($50 and $100); seven charge a variable dollar amount that ranges from $50 to $250, while 10 charge either the insurance deductible or a portion of it, with the minimum charge set at $50