Ed Bobit: Is It a Complex Problem...or Is It Plain Apathy?

Whenever I don't have an answer. I figure that I've got a problem. Every time I gel to feeling confident that my discussions in the field with fleet managers keep me abreast how they of feel. another event creates a mystery for me.

This enigma manifested itself again when we developed the industry compensation study. For years, dozens and probably hundreds of our reader have urged us to accomplish and publicize to results, so they could have a benchmark for their individual comparison.

The idea appeared to be a good one, and we mailed the questionnaire to a broad base, obtained an excellent response, and published the results in our April 1993 issue. It was our cover and lead feature. Our research people cross tabulated nearly every possible area: i.e. by full-time vs. part-time managers: by male vs. female; by commercial vs. utility: and even by section of the country, and leased vs. owned. The charts and data were brilliant. The comments on inequities were numerous. The report was as good or belter than Fortune does theirs.

What mystifies me is that not one of the 22,000 readers bothered to send us a letter or make one phone call on this high interest topic. We expected some disagreement: some note that called for a crusade: some irate phone call about the inequities. Or perhaps someone to take a moment and say thanks for making the results available since it just might help someone gel a raise.

But, nothing: no response. We've brought the problem up at our internal editorial meetings. One of the staff hall-joked that perhaps most were being paid more than the averages reported, and it might not have been as welcome as we had anticipated. We don't really have an answer.

Now, we conduct any number of studies on various areas of the fleet business that range from driver's habits and demographic to how fleet managers use national account services. During the past two years, we have presented two blockbuster (that's what we call them) studies besides the one on compensation. One covered the challenges and training pertaining to the fleet manager function. The other was on the staggering cost of the impending alternative fuel conversion of vehicles in the next few years. We have lamented that there was little feedback from those.

Paradoxically, there are some topics that "sell" and generate more banter than we may be looking for. Strangely these are diverse and mostly unexpected subjects. The pro and con of auctions vs. wholesalers saw the mail flow in. Anyone even hinting that a fleet manager cannot be as efficient as an outsource resource should know that it evokes a large measure of challenge. The sure-fire topic to command response is the alleged merits of the "full fleet management" concept where outsourcing places some of the internal department staff on the street. That's a zinger.* If anyone has an explanation that can assist my understanding. I'd love to hear from them. Then again, I probably shouldn't expert it.