All the key news in fleet…

Royal Mail Fleet is to open its workshops to other fleet customers.

Royal Mail to offer UK-wide SMR solution for car and van fleets

Royal Mail is to open up its UK-wide network of vehicle workshops to other fleet customers.

Following a 15-month pilot, the one-stop-shop service will offer car, van and HGV fleets access to Royal Mail Fleet’s network of more than 110 vehicle workshops, which cover Inverness to Redruth, with over 70 locations open 12 or more hours a day.

The workshops will offer service, maintenance and repair across a complete range of vehicle types and plant items and will be backed up 40 mobile service technicians.

The issue of ‘big data’ will be a focal point at ACFO’s spring seminar.

ACFO puts focus on ‘big data’ at spring seminar

The issue of ‘big data’ and its impact on the long-established fleet management model is to come under the spotlight at ACFO’s spring seminar.

Taking place on 18 May at Whittlebury Hall, Northamptonshire, the seminar will include talks from Lex Autolease and Audi UK as well as legal and professional services firm Gordon Dadds. It will also feature a question and answer panel session expected to include a representative of a vehicle rental company.

To attend the seminar email Fiona Spencer at [email protected] or go to www.acfo.org.

Auto Windscreens and Michelin are now members of the Corporate Investor Programme.

Latest additions to ICFM’s Corporate Investor Programme

Auto Windscreens and Michelin have signed up to ICFM’s recently launched Corporate Investor Programme.

Both companies have joined at Affiliate Investor level, which enables them to participate in ICFM events and gain access to the organisation’s resources.

UK true fleet registrations rose 12.6% in March, boosted by VED changes.

Uplift for UK true fleet market in March

UK true fleet registrations received an extra boost in March as fleet buyers looked to beat the impending VED changes, new Dataforce figures show.

As a result, true fleet registrations rose 12.6% compared to a 12.4% rise in special channels and 4.4% in private registrations. The total market registered 562,000 units, which was a rise of 8.4% compared to the previous March.

Heat map showing levels of air pollution along Oxford Street, London.

Trees prove most cost-effective way to mitigate air pollution

Planting trees in urban areas could help tackle air quality, a new study has found.

Research carried out by scientists at air quality measurement firm EarthSense Systems in Oxford Streets looked at the effectiveness of a range of options, including trees, solid barriers and even a special paint that uses light to activate a chemical reaction to reduce the build-up of pollution.

Planting trees showed a reduction in pollutant levels and was up to 100 times cheaper.  However, the firm said all the mitigation strategies can only deliver minimum reductions in air pollution and emphasised the need for vehicle emissions to be targeted at source.

Products on display will include the VT4000 HD telematics camera system.

VisionTrack launches live video connected cameras and app

VisionTrack is to debut two new products and a mobile app at this month’s CV Show.

The new products cover the VT2.2 two-channel device and the VT4000, a four-channel HD telematics camera system.

VisionTrack is also launching its mobile app for iOS and Android.

Engineers at the new research centre will develop connected vehicle technology.

New automotive research centre for connected vehicles

HORIBA MIRA and Coventry University are to launch a new automotive research centre dedicated to developing intelligent, connected vehicle technology.

The centre is located on an existing site at the heart of MIRA Technology Park and will be able to simulate, test and evaluate the security and safety of Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) and undertake research in new products and services.

AFEX’s new prepaid Mastercard offers management of employee’s expenses.

AFEX launches prepaid Mastercard for expense management

AFEX, a non-bank provider of global payment and risk management solutions, has introduced a new prepaid Mastercard to help firms including fleets manage employee expenses.

The programme enables multiple cards to be managed on a single platform with an online portal to manage expenditure limits, add or withdraw funds and produce reports. Other features include smartphone receipt capture and upload for users alone with the ability for managers to cap spending, switch ATM access on and off, monitor expenditure in real time and send manual or automated top-ups to individual cards worldwide.

The national driving test will now include following directions from a sat nav.

Driving test reformed to include sat nav use

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is to update the driving test to include following directions from a sat nav.

The changes, which will apply to tests in England, Scotland and Wales from Monday 4 December 2017, will also see drivers tested on more realistic parking scenarios such as parking in a bay instead of reversing around a corner and three-point turns. Other changes include doubling the independent driving part of the test to 20 minutes and testing drivers on vehicle safety, including their knowledge of the whereabouts of minor controls.

Three out of four dealership employees overpay BiK, latest research finds.

Dealership employees overpaying BiK

Three out of four dealership employees overpay Benefit in Kind (BiK), latest research finds.

The analysis by Cooper Solutions on HMRC’s Averaging Agreement for company car drivers in the motor industry say the overpayment equates to over £2m since the scheme was officially introduced in 2009, due to vehicles in a lower BiK band only being made available to employees for home/overnight use.