Senior management needs to emphasize the management aspects of fleet management, says Jim Frank, president of Wheels Inc. This means being a good communicator and having the ability to implement programs.
Senior management should not underestimate the value an in-house fleet manager provides to the company.
"A competent fleet manager can easily save a company millions of dollars," said Jim Frank, president of Wheels Inc., a fleet management company headquartered in Des Plaines, IL. "These savings are not through vendor selection, but through the effective implementation of fleet policies, such as determining the types of vehicles to be placed on a selector and determining how long they will be kept in service."
The effective implementation of fleet policies requires a strong in-house fleet manager, someone who will be an internal advocate, setting goals and then implementing them, added Frank. "An in-house fleet manager is someone who understands the culture of the company, its decision-making process, and someone who has the time to implement these changes, which sometimes are multi-year projects," said, Frank.
Implementation of ideas is a crucial role played by the in-house fleet manager. "You can come up with great ideas for programs, but if they don't get implemented, it's for naught," said Frank.
Traits of a Good Fleet Manager
What makes for a good fleet manager?
"It is someone who has good communication skills, who has empathy, and who has credibility with management because they have a strong knowledge base," said Frank. "They must have the ability to conceptualize an idea and communicate it and have the ability to work within their organization to get it implemented."
Being a good fleet manager doesn't require a specific educational background, however. "You see people come into fleet management from all sorts of backgrounds," said Frank. "The secret is being a good manager. You need to emphasize the management part of fleet management. It is working with the vendor, how you communicate within your organization, and how you get programs implemented. Those are all management skills. It is also the ability to analyze data and understand the ramifications to your business."
As the fleet management profession has become more automated, this has led to greater opportunities for fleet managers to become true managers.
"One of the exciting things that has been happening over the past six years is that the job has become a much higher-level job and much more rewarding," said Frank. "By outsourcing a lot of the nuts and bolts aspects of the job, it has eliminated a tremendous amount of paperwork and allowed fleet managers more time to manage their fleets rather than administer them."
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