FleetDrive 22 - April 2020 | Page 2

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