– By Marc Sibbald –
In March I caught up with GoGet to see what’s been happening in the car sharing space over the last 12 months. They were keen to talk about their success with fleets and how they had tailored their products to suit the needs of a business user.
I was talking to Jake Hyde, Business Development Manager, who explained that the benefits of car sharing are well known by their consumer members and the subscribers have continued to grow. It’s the benefits to business users, or fleets, that are not as obvious.
During the discussion I questioned if GoGet had been successful because of their technological superiority and first mover advantage. Hyde was quick to respond by saying that car sharing isn’t a technology play; it’s a fleet management play. And that’s why they have been growing their business customer base because they are managing one of Australia’s largest fleets and understand the challenges facing Fleet Managers.
When I asked for some examples of businesses that had benefited from using GoGet, Hyde explained that LaTrobe university was able to cut their fleet size by 50%. And that the Department of Industry saved $50,000 in their six month trial and are now expanding it across NSW.
It’s not hard to think of GoGet as a giant pool car fleet that you can access to manage intermittent demands for vehicles without all the cost, billing issues, administration and under utilisation. Transitioning into a car share arrangement that will be accepted by all stakeholders may be slightly harder.
Hyde has been working hard to convince business and government that the implementation pain is not as bad as they think and the benefits are worthwhile.
“There are three main areas we know we can offer a benefit” says Hyde. “Replacing pool fleets is normally the first thing people think about when they contact GoGet. Then we discuss their grey fleet risk administration costs of managing Taxi or Uber journeys.”
Grey fleet risk is important for organisations to recognise and manage when they are relying on a large amount of trips to be done using employee or volunteer vehicles. With fleet management as a core skill, GoGet can guarantee reliable, well maintained and safe vehicles for business related trips.
Short trips using taxis or other ride staring providers can be difficult to track and costly if the alternative travel methods are not evaluated. Using GoGet provides easy administration and visibility over the total kilometres travelled and expense type. With a fleet 3,000+ vehicles GoGet can make sure the vehicles are conveniently located for the frequent or predictable journeys.
“We’ve worked hard to develop flexible billing options to suit businesses that can be adapted to each customer’s requirements” says Hyde. “This reduces the invoicing administration and our booking system takes away the headaches of availability and disputed charges.”
Hyde does mention that GoGet is not the answer to all vehicle related business travel. Organisations still need to purchase and maintain ‘compliance’ vehicles that are fit for purpose with high utilisation. Though for many businesses, a generic late model passenger vehicle available on demand will satisfy most of the ad-hoc requirements during high demand periods.
