Interview
The Group Fleet Manager
Name : Dawn Hubbard Company : Stapleton ’ s ( Tyre Services ) Ltd / Kwikfit / Etel Role : Group Fleet Office Manager Term : 4 years
How did you arrive in fleet management ?
Totally by chance . I was a lecturer in childcare at my local college before falling into this job .
As a child , what did you want to be when you grew up ?
A zoologist . And my backup plan was to become a vet .
With hindsight , would you still wish to do this now ?
Definitely . I ’ d be out in the wild tomorrow morning given half the chance .
How many vehicles do you look after ?
780 Light commercials , 108 HGVs , 332 Cars and 46 Trailers . A large fleet ? I think so ! It feels huge at times !
What is the most common tasks you deal with ?
Lots and lots of chasing . Drivers - especially HGV drivers - like to drive , not do administration ! I also spend a lot of my time looking at where and how I can make cost savings , particularly around maintenance . The rest of the time is taken up dealing with general enquiries from drivers and the odd complaint . Whilst there are always common tasks to do , no two days are exactly the same .
What is the fleet-related scenario or task that you most dread ?
Monthly reports . I am tasked with producing management reports for my bosses and this inevitably means a lot of queries . It can be a bit of a palaver , often taking up to a fortnight to finalise . We use FleetCheck to run a lot of these reports because I know it helps us immensely . It ’ s really nice to be able to page them up together … three reports in one for instance and have the ability to define the exact reporting criteria we need .
What is the most enjoyable aspect of your role ?
Doing something unusual . Investigating something out of the ordinary ... problem solving . Extracting information and using it to make things better . Seeing the cost saving benefits of data analysis .
What are the most challenging aspects of being a fleet manager ?
Finding ways to cut costs , always . Having the right data and the right reporting to pull the correct information out , plus the ability to quickly spot anomalies .
What has changed for the better in recent years ?
Using technology . When I first came into the job , someone would ask me where a vehicle was and I simply couldn ’ t tell them . It was all on spreadsheets and pieces of paper ; one day a vehicle might be shown in the right location and then the next day it was wrong . There was no audit trail . I spent hours just phoning around , pleading with drivers to tell me where their vehicles were .
Before you knew about FMS , what did you use to manage your fleet ?
Spreadsheets and paper files and a long list of phone numbers . The fleet was run as a sideline by the person who looked after the insurance . We placed the onus on the drivers and just hoped that they were looking after their vehicles properly .
What led you to seek a new FMS ?
As soon as I started in the role it was obvious that we needed a better way of running the fleet . A database , maybe . But things evolved and we ended up looking at three or four software options ; one of which was FleetCheck .
What has changed for you in your role since moving over to FMS ?
We ’ ve grown into a team of four – our fleet operation is bigger and so much better . We have a great deal more detail now , which means we can compare and analyse whatever areas of the fleet we need to . We ’ re constantly improving as the availability of data gets even better . Also , drivers trust us more these days ; the dynamic has really changed . They know that we are managing a tight ship and they have raised their game too ! It ’ s our job now , not theirs , to manage their vehicles .
Have you seen any specific benefits of an FMS ?
Initially , FleetCheck saved a huge amount of time . However as the level of information and functionality has evolved , we ’ ve become busier ; but we ’ re definitely more efficient and more accurate . Availability of data has changed everything - there ’ s always more to chisel into : I would far rather have it this way .
Which person would you most like to be stuck in a 3-hour traffic jam with ?
That ’ s easy . My Dad .
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