Interview
The Fleet Manager
Name: Carl Nicholson
Company: North Somerset Council
Role: Fleet Manager
Term: 5 years
How did you arrive in fleet
management?
What is the fleet-related scenario
or task that you most dread?
Like many people by accident… I had 5 year
stint in the Air Force in Supply and Logistics, I
later worked as Warehouse supervisor for a
frozen food Haulage firm, then a temporary
job with the council; 5 years later it became
permanent.
The monthly trip to the post office to tax the
vehicles. Council regulations prevent us from
using direct debits meaning we still rely on
cheques. We are hoping to move to a
prefunded account with the DVSA this year.
As a child, what did you want to
be when you grew up?
A pilot
With hindsight would you still
wish to do this now?
My school careers advisor stated ‘You can
never be a fireman, pilot, or work in the
military’ due to being colour blind, I decided
to join the Air Force rather than go to
University. Ironically I learnt to fly in the Air
Force, and still hold a licence to fly gliders.
That said I love my job and the challenge it
poses.
How many vehicles do you look
after?
The North Somerset Council Fleet consists of
approximately 110 vehicles ranging from a
couple of HGV’s, minibuses, cars, 4x4’s and
light commercial vehicles.
What are the most common tasks
you deal with?
Fleet management is a very mixed bag as you
often never quite know what the day has in
store for you. That said common tasks relate
to scrutiny of invoices, contract management,
vehicle replacements and utilisation
management. The hot topic is budget
reduction and the cost of staff mobility with a
particular emphasis on grey fleet reduction,
to that end, a lot of my time has been spent
on promoting the utilisation of the fleet,
especially the new electric pool cars.
What is the most enjoyable
aspect of your role?
Providing a service that people take for
granted and trust. In the fleet industry you
tend to know when things are going well as
you hear nothing from the vehicle users.
What are the most challenging
aspects of being a fleet manager?
The public sector has a seemingly never
ending task of reducing costs in a world
where everyone wants a slice of your budget.
Delivering more for less means ensuring that
every asset is worked to its full potential to
justify it’s existence. Creativity and
resourcefulness are the difference between
failure and achievement these days.
What has changed for the better
in recent years?
Advances and cost improvements in
technology and data intelligence has been the
key to helping transform our fleet over the
last 5 years. The use of Fleet Management
software, tracking and accident cameras has
helped reduce our operating costs from £1.5
million in 2007 to under £400,000 this year.
Before you knew about FMS,
what did you use to manage your
fleet?
We used Excel Spreadsheets and a basic FMS
solution until 2014.
What led you to seek a new FMS?
The solution we had was too complicated and
outdated for the council’s needs to effectively
deliver the integration with our chosen
telematics supplier ‘Quartix’ There were
many issues with the somewhat dated
software that led to a review of the market
offerings. Interestingly a series of cost
effective web based Fleet Management
packages had appeared in the market since
the last review in 2010.
What has changed for you in your
role since moving over to FMS?
The use of visual alerts and automated emails
within the system has ensured compliance is
no longer a constant worry. Working
relationships with our maintenance
contractors are also greatly improved due to
the free flow of information within the
system, even to the point where I have been
able to relinquish the responsibility of regular
maintenance work scheduling to the
contractor, using their own access within the
system.
Have you seen any specific
benefits of an FMS?
The system is so