Executive
Summary
Supporting Each Other and Sharing the Pain
Mace Hartley
Executive Director
Fleet Management is a horizontal in a world of
vertical industries, i.e. almost every business
has a fleet of vehicles be they passenger, light
commercial or heavy vehicles. In fact, several
AfMA members have motorcycles, watercraft,
trains and the odd plane.
COVID-19 is affecting ALL OF OUR members
differently but perhaps the largest impact is
on our suppliers. Those organisations who
support our fleet needs through rain, hail
and shine, perhaps those are the easy times
compared to COVID-19.
Some of you will have heard me say “all fleet
managers operate under water, its just the
size of the straw that’s different”. Adjusting
to the demands of COVID-19 will be different
depending on your industry vertical. If you’re
based in transport logistics the odds are you
can’t get enough vehicles and drivers whilst
if you’re supporting a large sales-based
organisation, drivers may have been stood
down or made redundant.
Regardless of your industry, vertical vehicles
must be serviced regularly to maintain safety
so if your fleet needs servicing, repair or you
were thinking of accessing new technologies
or re-accessing your fit for purpose vehicles,
there has never been a better time to call your
suppliers and see how you can help them as
they’re always there supporting you. Take care
and support those who’ve supported you!
As we bring to you this issue of FleetDrive
the world is in an absolute state of shock but
we’re still here to help you and your business
2
ISSUE 22 2020 / WWW.AFMA.ORG.AU
through these challenging circumstances. This
edition includes an update on how COVID-19
is affecting AfMA directly including our major
events such as the 2020 Conference, what the
virus means for you and your business plus tips
on how you can best work from home during
these challenging times. We’ve also caught up
with a variety of our members to hear how the
crisis is affecting their sector – a special thanks
to all those who took part.
Despite the shutdown there is still plenty of
fleet and automotive news happening which
is why we are checking in with key industry
experts to keep you updated with key updates
on safety, electric vehicles and new technology.
This month we travel around Australia
by checking in with the teams at ANCAP
SAFETY in Canberra, RACQ in Brisbane and
Adelaide’s Zero Automotive guys to see what
is happening in their world so do take a read
and get yourself informed as we tackle 2020
together. Other big cities, don’t worry because
these changes affect all of us! We’ll also be
publishing more local stories throughout
2020 as we intentionally aim to highlight the
efforts of our members in all sectors of fleet
management from right around Australia, New
Zealand, and within Asia too.
Again I’d like to highlight that if you’re looking
to provide your work health and safety
committee with information that will assist
their performance even from home, perhaps
guide them towards AfMA’s new online courses
covering Chain of Responsibility, WH&S in
the Mobile Workplace and Risk and Hazard