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‘Rightmileaging’ to be key area for fleets post-pandemic

Accurately predicting future mileage in new company car leases is to be a key issue for fleets as new travel patterns start to emerge.

While fleets generally believe company car mileage will remain lower than at pre-coronavirus levels, they are unsure about how much

According to FleetCheck, while fleets generally believe company car mileage will remain lower than at pre-coronavirus levels, they are unsure about how much.

Peter Golding, managing director at the fleet software firm, said: “Most company cars have covered a fraction of their usual mileage in the last 12 months because of the pandemic and, with the growth of videoconferencing as an alternative, it’s generally thought that the majority will not return to the kind of distances seen in the past.”

And while very few organisations are talking about getting rid of their fleets altogether – as the trips that are still being made remain essential or important – Golding said a big question mark remains over ‘rightmileaging’ – ensuring that employers take out leases that match future usage.

It’s an area that FleetCheck is recommending fleets take a proactive approach to.

“Obviously, the difference between a 20,000-mile-a-year lease and a 12,000-mile one is substantial, especially extrapolated across a whole business, so it is important to get this right.

“Our view is that businesses shouldn’t wait to see what develops because the outcomes are likely to be haphazard, with some drivers choosing to return to their old mileage levels and others being more considered.”

And fleets themselves are being urged to introduce guidance around when journeys should be undertaken instead of leaving things up to employees.

“Certainly, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest, for example, that monthly client meetings should not all take place face-to-face and should instead use a combination of video conferencing and in-person meetings,” Golding added.

“We expect to see more discussion about this in the coming months and certainly we’re helping some of our clients with their rightmileaging requirements, looking at how they should manage drivers and business needs.”

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Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.