FLEET MANAGEMENT
any compensating schemes will need to be
compliant with chain of responsibility obligations.
Funding models, tax reform, economic
conditions, urban congestion, energy security
and environmental concerns will continue to
re-order themselves on the fleet management
priority list well into the future. There will always
be matters of concern and ideally there will also
be cost effective and efficient solutions.
Technology is a key enabler to meet fleet
management priorities. In coming years
telematics and mobile communications will
network the great moving mass of vehicles and
transport infrastructure in a systems model
that incorporates the vehicles, drivers, roads &
roadsides. The task seems enormous however it’s
only a little over six years since Apple released it’s
first iPhone and yet in early 2013 the Australian
Communications and Media Authority relea sed
figures indicating that there were already over 8.5
million smartphone users in Australia.
The system model is also a template aligned with
the fleet management priorities of cost reduction,
safety, energy efficiency and data management.
The task of putting the component pieces together
is a long-term project that requires investment
in new technologies and infrastructure and the
commitment of early adopters such as Government
to make decisions on innovation without reaping
direct and immediate cost benefit.
Ultimately the adoption of new systems and
services in a widespread context will come down
to business practicality. Systems, services and
technology continue to evolve and the performance
requirements for fleets continue to rise.
• Operational cost reductions and continued
improvement in the specification and standards
of the mobile workplace.
• Access to real-time data, reported by
exception not inundation.
• Integration of information relating to;
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–
–
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The Vehicle
Operating Environment
Driver
Work Tasks
All of this delivered without distracting drivers or
complicating administration.
The changes seen by fleet managers over the last
twenty years have been enormous and the pace
continues to accelerate.
Economic and political climates will continue
to ebb and flow, energy security and climate
issues will be influential, but irrespective of any
prevailing conditions the efficient management of
vehicle fleets will remain vital to the wellbeing of
the economy.
Government fleets are integral on a national,
state and local level and it remains a key
responsibility of those managing these fleets to
read the road signs.
Identification of issues, changes and trends at
the earliest opportunity is essential, it takes far
fewer resources and less energy to set out in the
right direction from the outset. Small incremental
adjustments at the beginning are far more
efficient than wholesale directional changes in
the latter part of the journey.
Fleet Managers will be looking for:
Predicting long-term changes is difficult and there
is an art to strategic planning and the development
of likely scenarios, but it is vitally important.
• The delivery of robust underlying (not
dominating) systems where the manager drives
the system not the system driving the manager.
The future arrived recently, but fleet management
2.0 is scheduled for release soon, look out for it
on the road ahead.
Govlink Issue 2 2013
The Australasian Fleet
Management Association
(AfMA) is a not-for-profit
organisation with over
600 members throughout
Australia and New Zealand.
AfMA’s membership base
is represented across all
industries as well as Federal,
State and Local Government
and is responsible for the
management of approximately
800,000 fleet vehicles.
Our charter is to enhance
Fleet Management as a
profession in its own right,
to provide knowledge,
information and resources to
our Members and to lobby
and advocate on behalf of the
fleet industry.
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