Controlling grey fleet mileage and expenses claims is vital, says Mycompanyfleet

Fleet managers still face a number of issues in managing their grey fleet drivers effectively, says Mycompanyfleet, including measuring grey fleet mileage and managing expenses claims, but these can be overcome by the appropriate software solution.

The term ‘grey fleet’ refers to those vehicles which are owned by company employees but  which are used regularly on company business. They may have been purchased through cash allowances that employees have been given in lieu of a company car, in a situation where a company has closed its company car scheme, for example.

Managing the grey fleet poses a number of problems for fleet managers however. Employees are responsible for servicing and maintaining their own vehicles, rather than the company, and for ensuring they stay in a roadworthy condition.

They are also responsible for their own insurance, which must be of business class, and for ensuring they have a valid driving licence and a legal entitlement to drive. They are also responsible for submitting mileage and expenses claims on a regular basis for all business mileage and expenses incurred.

It is necessary for a company to ensure all these requirements are fulfilled to meet its duty of care, not just to its employees, but to the public at large, as well as  ensuring that the company is compliant with the latest taxation regulations, as stipulated by HM Revenue and Customs.

Keeping a check that all of these requirements are met normally falls on the fleet manager and often the HR department, and can be time consuming and burdensome.

Automated business mileage and expenses capture and driver licence checking are two essential interventions which should play a key part of any grey fleet management programme. 

Capturing accurate business mileage not only allows accurate mileage expenses to be reimbursed, it also allows company managers to assess the risks associated with high mileage drivers as well as flagging up vehicle servicing in advance.

Mycompanyfleet has software solutions designed to tackle all of these issues. Automated business mileage capture is achieved through the intuitive Mycompanyfleet Driver Self-Serve web portal which requires drivers to enter their mileages and vehicle condition online into the system.

Driver Self-Serve gives companies the means to completely automate the management of their grey fleets. Grey fleet drivers log on to the Driver Self-Serve portal and enter their current business mileages and their mileage expenses claims online.

 In doing so, they sign an agreement that they accept the company’s terms and conditions and that they have had their vehicle serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s approved service schedule, or with the company’s own bespoke servicing schedule.

Once the vehicle details and business mileages are entered by the driver, the fleet software system compares them against the manufacturer’s approved service schedule, and the company conditions, for the vehicle in question.

It then proactively informs the driver of the number of miles left before the next service or the next check and when the vehicle will need to be booked in for the service to be carried out.

If drivers fail to update their details, they will be unsuccessful in their mileage expenses claim, which acts as a major incentive for them to keep records accurate and up-to-date. They are also automatically flagged up in an exception report to the fleet manager for further action to be taken.

Used in this way, the system provides the fleet manager with a confirmation that a service has taken place and a record of the date, in an easily visible audit trail that meets duty of care requirements.

When it comes to verifying driver details, Mycompanyfleet offers an enhanced driver checking service which was developed to meet demand from corporate customers who wanted to go further into the backgrounds and credentials of their drivers.

The service not only checks and validates driver licence status, but also carries out deeper background checking of a driver’s qualifications, references and even criminal records.

The findings feed automatically into Mycompanyfleet software to produce integrated driver records in one place which can be accessed by multiple departments, including the fleet department and Human Resources.
 
What this does is provide a one-stop shop of all driver records, along with improved management of vehicle and driver alike and the creation of a central and readily accessible source of driver information for various departmental managers.
 

Back to news items