For years, Fleet Managers have been told that telematics generates valuable data. The challenge has never been collecting information—it has been turning that information into better decisions.
At the 2026 AfMA Fleet Summit, Blacktown City Council shared how it used telematics data and operational engagement to uncover significant opportunities to improve fleet efficiency, reduce costs, and create a stronger foundation for future fleet decisions.
Working with Fleetonomics, Blacktown City Council analysed utilisation patterns across its fleet and combined those insights with extensive consultation across business units to determine whether the organisation was operating the fleet it actually needed—or simply the fleet it had always owned.
According to Kris Nair, Head of Strategic Fleet & Energy Programs at Blacktown City Council, the council already had access to large amounts of fleet data but struggled to convert it into meaningful decisions.
“We always knew there was lots of information in there, but how that data became good decisions was the help of a company called Fleetonomics that we used,” said Nair.
“They helped us optimise our actual number of fleet items in terms of how we could use them, and whether we needed more or do we need less in certain areas.”
The result was not simply a fleet review. It became an organisation-wide conversation about service delivery, asset utilisation and financial sustainability.
Turning Data Into Action
Melvin Worth, Co-Founder at Fleetonomics, said many organisations face the same challenge.
“Are we operating the fleet we actually need, or the fleet that we’ve always had?” he asked.
The review examined a large and diverse fleet spread across multiple business units with decentralised budgets. While telematics data was available, the council needed a clearer understanding of how vehicles were being used and whether operational requirements justified current fleet numbers.
Fleetonomics developed a utilisation baseline using telematics and other fleet data before engaging operational teams to understand the context behind the numbers.
Karen Whitehouse, Co-Founder at Fleetonomics, said data alone is not enough.
“We’re really big on data. We love data. We’re data geeks, but actually we’re even bigger on engaging people in that conversation,” she said.
“We quite often see fleet reviews fail because there’s been a lack of engagement with the people.”
The project focused on establishing a single source of truth, creating confidence in the data, and then working collaboratively with business units to validate findings and identify practical opportunities.
Every Business Unit Was Carrying Excess Fleet Capacity
One of the most significant findings was that every business unit was carrying more fleet capacity than required.
Analysis showed opportunities across every vehicle category, from passenger vehicles through to heavy trucks.
According to Whitehouse, the data revealed that:
- 95 per cent of the fleet remained exposed to fuel price volatility through internal combustion engine vehicles.
- Pool vehicles had the potential to play a much larger role.
- Many vehicles remained assigned to individuals or specific business units, limiting utilisation across the broader organisation.
- Every business unit carried excess fleet capacity.
- Perceived requirements for specialist vehicles were often greater than actual operational needs.
- Vehicle downtime was contributing to fleet growth because additional vehicles were being retained as backups.
The review also identified a theoretical optimisation opportunity of approximately 35 per cent of the fleet.
After factoring in operational requirements, shift patterns, locations, vehicle types and service delivery obligations, the practical optimisation opportunity remained substantial.
A Potential $7 Million Benefit
The analysis identified approximately 150 vehicles that could potentially be reduced, redistributed or reassigned across the organisation without impacting normal operations.
These vehicles represented opportunities to improve utilisation rather than simply reducing fleet numbers.
Worth said the financial impact was significant.
“There are 150 vehicles that we have identified for Blacktown that can be shuffled, disposed, redistributed across different business groups,” he said.
“That very quickly starts to generate the number that you see on the left-hand side, the $7 million that we have calculated.”
Importantly, the projected savings did not include additional reductions in fuel, maintenance, insurance, registration and administration costs associated with managing those vehicles.
The review also highlighted the long-term benefits of reducing future capital expenditure and smoothing vehicle replacement cycles.
“If you buy a vehicle that you don’t need today, and that vehicle is in your fleet for three or four years, it actually starts to create some behaviour issues in your operational teams that you will need to address again in three or four years’ time,” Worth explained.
“You’ve got to break the cycle.”
Building Trust Through Collaboration
A key lesson from the project was that successful fleet optimisation requires more than data analysis.
The Blacktown City Council approach relied heavily on consultation with operational teams, business unit leaders and other stakeholders.
“We sit down with business groups, we take them through the data, we give them the opportunity to challenge that data,” said Whitehouse. “We always arrive at a much more collaborative, validated position as a result of those conversations.”
Nair said the data gave his team the confidence to have better discussions with executives and operational managers.
“Data talks 1,000 words,” he said.
The council also discovered that many requests for additional vehicles could not be justified once utilisation data was reviewed. In some cases, vehicles had rarely been used over several years, despite requests for replacements or additional units.
The result was a shift from assumptions and historical practices toward evidence-based decision making.
A Blueprint for Fleet Managers
The Blacktown City Council experience demonstrates that telematics is only the first step in fleet optimisation. The real value comes from turning data into insights, engaging stakeholders, and using evidence to support difficult conversations.
As Whitehouse concluded:
“The key thing here is, yes, data is absolutely pivotal to informing decisions, but it’s only when you take that data to the people that you’ll actually enable the outcomes that you’re looking to achieve.”
For Fleet Managers facing growing financial pressures, increasing sustainability targets and demands for better service delivery, Blacktown’s experience provides a practical example of how telematics data can become a powerful tool for organisational change rather than simply another dashboard full of numbers.
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