Most fleet managers feel they are compensated fairly. That is according to Automotive Fleet's biennial survey of more than 400 commercial fleet managers. One Eastern fleet manager, running 500 vehicles, said, "A large percentage of my pay is based on company profits and fleet incentives I have control of." He indicated that his salary increased over 7 percent since 1997. But a number of fleet managers who returned the survey expressed displeasure at their level of compensation. As you might expect, the larger the salary, as a rule, the greater the satisfaction. Fleet managers with fleets of 500 or more vehicles who earn more than $60,000 are satisfied, while fleet managers running the same size fleets who earn less than $50,000 are not satisfied. Another manager does much of the grunt work of running a large fleet in the West. He feels underpaid, and said, "I'd like to be in the $60,000-$65,000 salary range. The company appreciates my work more now than it did in the past six to eight months. I've been with them for a little over 10 years now." A female fleet manager from the Midwest, running 500 vehicles full-time and making less than $25,000, commented, "I feel I should make over $30,000 like other fleet administrators." Finally, an Eastern fleet administrator who just saw her staff cut in half due to downsizing and doesn't know how secure her position is, commented, "Right now, I'm not really sure about how management feels about what I'm doing. It's a little bit 'iffy.'"

Women's Salaries Increased

Women continue to make gains in terms of the dollars they are paid since our last survey, published in the April 1997 issue of AF. A higher percentage of women than men earn less than $25,000, and none of the women surveyed earned over $90,000. On the other hand, 3 percent of the men surveyed earned between $90,000 and $100,000 and another 4.5 percent earn more than $100,000.

Education Pays

Overall levels of education have not changed significantly since the last survey. An interesting result was that fleet managers who are certified as Certified Automotive Fleet Managers (CAFM) are the highest paid, with an average salary of $83,000. Also, the number of fleet managers with post-graduate or MBA degrees has increased significantly. In terms of total numbers, however, these people represent fewer than 10 percent of the total number of fleet managers responding.

Advantages in Geography, Size

Fleet managers in the West have higher average salaries than those in other areas of the country, with those in the Southwest being at the low end of the scale. Size of the fleet department in terms of both personnel and number of vehicles has an effect on salary, with those supervising more than five subordinates and those running more than 500 vehicles coming out in the top categories. An unexpected finding was that people managing fewer than 50 vehicles were more highly paid than those with fleets up to 500 vehicles in size. This may be because with that small number of vehicles, they are mainly in some other management position and fleet is just one of many other responsibilities. Fleet managers who report to the sales or transportation departments tend to be the most highly paid, while those who report to finance or purchasing tend to earn lower salaries. The survey also showed that most fleet administrators report to general administration or management. The next largest group reports to finance or treasury. The most highly paid groups are the smallest in numbers. Perhaps as a result of the tight labor market and overall favorable economy, almost none of our respondents saw a decrease in salary in the past year. The number reporting a decrease was statistically insignificant. Also, if you as a fleet manager get to use one of the vehicles you manage, you are in a shrinking minority.

Fleet Managers Speak Out About Their Compensation

Many of the fleet managers who responded to AF's survey made comments about how they are compensated for their efforts. Here is a sampling of their replies:

• A male administrator from New England, who has been in the industry for over six years, commented that he is doing "fleet management coupled with total property and telecommunications management," and would like to be compensated about 20 percent higher.

• In the Southeast, a fleet manager running over 300 cars for a $1-billion company and earning less than $40,000 remarked that "for all the responsibilities of the job and the amount of details involved, I should be more highly compensated."

• In the East, a female manager running the fleet for a $500-million company for more than six years and making under $40,000 commented that she does "two full-time jobs as executive travel manager and fleet administrator. I work an average 10-hour day."

• A Southeastern fleet administrator, who controls over 1,000 vehicles and makes between $50,000 and $60,000 per year, put it succinctly that "responsibility and time are not equal to dollars paid."

• An administrator in New England who runs over 500 vehicles, and has worked at it full-time for more than six years, noted that "financial analysis and reporting are not given their true weight in fleet management."

• Finally, a female fleet manager in the Southwest who manages over 1,000 vehicles full-time, commented, "I feel I am 15 percent to 20 percent below average (in salary) for the number of vehicles with no other staff."