– By Rob Wilson –
What do FBT and Road Safety have in common? Well they’re both important issues for fleet managers and the subject of AfMA’s latest professional development forum in Victoria this week.
FBT can be compelling, when you consider the potential savings a fleet manager might make by taking an active approach to its management. David Sofrà – National Employment Taxes Partner at KPMG demonstrated how using telematics technologies such as fbtme can easily and efficiently capture data and enable the use of the operating cost method rather than statutory formula method to calculate FBT liability. The potential savings are significant and for some fleets the need to look at the operating cost method has become more critical since the establishment of the 20% flat statutory rate.
David also pointed out the savings to be had by managing car parking FBT. According to David the key to reducing car parking FBT liability is to understand the number of days a carpark is provided (again telematics can help) and identifying the lowest car park rates. Specialist service providers are now available to help do this.
Safety is a key responsibility for fleet operators. Amanda Warmerdam a PhD candidate at Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) spoke about her multi-level investigation of the organisational factors which influence work related road traffic injury and driver behaviour. The multi-level approach relates to:
- Safety capabilities – ensuring workers have safe work practices
- Safety management skills – ensuring line management understand and support safe practices, and
- Knowledge translation – developing and applying safety policies and procedures at senior management level
Presented within the context of the five pillars of road safety Amanda spoke of key interventions her research identified, for example:
- Road safety management – improve role clarity (which includes recognising business driving as an integral part of the job)
- Journey management – improve monitoring of journeys and fatigue
- Safer vehicles – Widespread use of ANCAP, managing maintenance and timely turnover of vehicles
- Safer road users – induction and training
- Post-crash response – incident reporting and response and using incident reporting to improve safety management.
For many fleet managers these findings would ring true and some may have battled with the hierarchy to introduce similar initiatives.
This research provides additional gravitas to fleet safety and will be useful for fleet managers wanting to demonstrate, to their organisation, the need to apply best practice. MUARC will be working with partner organisations such as NRSPP to operationalise the research findings and provide resources for fleet managers.
Rob Wilson is an experienced Fleet Manager and Director of fleet consultancy company 4C MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS
