ACA Research released the 2022 Australian Corporate Fleet Insights report recently, and at the 2022 Australasian Fleet Management Conference in May, Steve Nuttall, Director at ACA Research, shared the maturity index they had developed based on the priorities of Fleet Managers over the next 12 months.
To develop the index the team at ACA looked at the top challenges for Fleet Managers and what people were working on. They found a different level of maturity in fleet management practices based on the priorities of the Fleet Manager.
The four key priorities used as a baseline for the maturity index were:
- Increasing business efficiency
- Improving the delivery of services to end customers
- Reducing environmental footprint
- Fleet electrification
In the survey, ACA asked participants if these four things were a low, medium or high priority for their fleet in the next 12 months. A score out of 12 was assigned to the responses which contributed to the maturity level.
The people that scored 10 or more were categorised as a Leader in the maturity classification which was 29% of the respondents. 45% scored 8 or 9 which was considered Mature. And a score less than 8 was labelled Less Mature.
Obviously there is no right or wrong responses because every organisation has its own challenges and the level of maturity in fleet management practices depends on a number of factors.
By creating the maturity index, ACA was able to display the results of the research by contrasting the responses from the Leaders and Less Mature. In one example, pool vehicles were being used by fleets in all three categories, however 67% of the Leaders were also using an online booking system compared to 23% of Less Mature.
Leaders could also be classified as using best practice which was demonstrated in a questions on hybrid and electric vehicles. Each group had a similar response when asked about EVs in their fleet today. While the Leaders have already adopted hybrid vehicles and are well advanced in their preparations for EVs.
The use of telematics was interesting. ACA asked, do you use a fleet telematics system? Only 28% of the Leaders did while 34% of the Less Mature fleets had implemented telematics.
Less Mature favoured (56%) a mix of different makes and models in the fleet. And surprisingly, 46% of Leaders have a mixed fleet. Mature were more likely to have standardised makes, models and builds with only 34% saying the fleet is a mix.
ACA conducted the research in the middle of the pandemic so they were able to ask about the impact of vehicle supply shortages. The standout response was from Less Mature with 41% saying they had increased their forward order planning which suggests they are already moving up the index.
There is lots more data in the report which may be useful to help you set the priorities for your fleet. Click here to find out more information on the Fleet Insights report.
