The core deliverable of a fleet management company is ensuring that its clients' vehicles are on the road every day, says Imperial Fleet Management's (IFM) chief executive Nicholas de Canha. Essential fleet management functions include financing; vehicle licensing and registration; co-ordinating servicing and maintenance; administration of toll fees, etolls and traffic fines and providing roadside assistance.
If any one of these functions is neglected, the fleet stands, and that is a huge business risk. Escalating costs are another consequence if these functions are not handled efficiently.
IFM was formed from a joint venture between JSE-listed Imperial Holdings and vehicle finance specialist WesBank. Between them, the two companies have more than 100 years of experience in vehicle sales and financing.
WesBank is an icon in the local market and has been rated the number one brand in vehicle finance over the past seven years. Imperial Holdings, on the other hand, runs the largest motor vehicle dealer network in SA, with 250-plus dealers. Through this network it sells more than 170,000 new and used vehicles each year, accounting for one in five passenger vehicle sold.
With this backing it is no surprise that IFM - after only three years in business - already has several blue-chip clients on its books. It tackles everything from passenger car fleets to some of the largest specialised commercial vehicle fleets in the country.
Da Canha says the fleet management concept is appealing because of the economy of scale it offers, even to companies with relatively small vehicle fleets. A professional fleet management company can assist with a full spectrum of solutions - where a leasing agreement may be customised based on a company's needs/specific business requirements - and the overall management of the vehicle fleet comes at a fraction of what it would cost a company to do so in-house.
"Customers' businesses are different, and so are IFM's solutions," says Da Canha.
He says that a company needs up to 10 people to manage a fleet of 100-plus cars, a fleet management company with its sophisticated systems can handle thousands of vehicles with similar head count. "IT systems and best practice processes form the cornerstone of our business - that is what saves customers money," says De Canha.
"Fleet managers must excel in three functions: buying vehicles, selling vehicles and maintenance," says Da Canha adding that IFM has an excellent record when it comes to purchasing or disposing of vehicles partly as a result of its relationship with Wesbank.
"In contrast, a company that "goes it alone" seldom matches the purchasing efficiency, disposal efficiency or even the maintenance costs management that IFM achieves," Da Canha claimed.
IFM uses LiquidCapital, one of the country's largest contract maintenance providers to service vehicles and support customers around the clock.
"Fleet management companies alleviate the management problems associated with running a fleet, as well as the risk in financing a fleet. But their core deliverable is ensuring as near to 100% up-time on every fleet vehicle as possible," Da Canha said.
Source: Financial Mail via I-Net Bridge
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