New calls on businesses to tighten grey fleet policies

15 June 2010

What do a Ferrari 360 Spider, a 1983 Citroen 2CV, an Austin 7, a Jungheinrich forklift truck and a quad bike have in common?

Surprisingly they are all real examples of grey fleet vehicles, according to leading UK fleet and fuel management company Arval, which is calling on organisations to take tighter control of the key area of at-work driving operations.

Arval is a Driving for Better Business champion. Its director of market insight, Mike Waters, said, “Many organisations are placing a strong focus on their environmental policies but if they don’t know what vehicles their employees are driving and claiming business mileage on, they could be ignoring a large area of inefficiency.

"This list of vehicles may sound far-fetched but we‘re certainly not kidding. Someone within an organisation had actually claimed for 900 business miles on a quad bike."

While such vehicles are extreme examples of those owned by employers and driven on business, Arval is warning that unless companies have control measures in place, their grey fleet could be costing them from an environmental and a health and safety point of view.

Arval recommends the first move an organisation should make is to try to take steps to understand the scale of the problem, then to look at the most effective alternatives based on the mileage, number and frequency of journeys involved. This might involve pool cars, daily rental or a fully expensed company car, all options that can be effectively managed.

If use of a grey fleet vehicle is unavoidable then Arval recommends putting clear controls in place about what vehicles are allowed to be used. For example, a company can set limits based on CO2 emissions and European New Car Assessment crash test safety ratings.