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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