Once you have determined you have or may have a grey fleet, you need to set a policy and communicate it to employees or drivers to ensure that you are meeting your duty of care responsibilities.
However, before setting out the grey fleet policy, it’s a good idea to ascertain the current size and make-up or potential size and make-up of the organisation’s grey fleet by doing an audit of your employees and volunteers and their vehicles.
You can do this yourself or get a consultancy in to do it for you. The audit will generally comprise questions to determine: the number of vehicles, the year they were made, the model, insurance and registration details, driver license details, and importantly, the purposes that vehicles are being used for work-related trips.
“You don’t want them turning up in a 1970s Torana,” said Steven Colliver, fleet manager at Dubbo City Council. “The vehicles need to be of a certain standard.”
Age of the vehicle is one of the key parameters that a policy should cover. For example, your organisation might deem that no vehicle older than five years should be used in any circumstance for work-related purposes. Your policy could also cover other desirable standards, such as being fitted with air bags, stability control systems and anti-lock braking systems.
Other key clauses in a grey fleet policy would cover minimum standards for and the need for providing insurance details, breakdown assistance membership, maintenance log books and odometer readings. It would also likely contain a requirements for grey fleet vehicle owners to report any vehicle and driver incidents.
The policy, at a minimum, should probably also contain clauses setting out what comprises business travel, alternatives for mobility (including public transport and hire or pooled vehicles) and the priorities deemed appropriate.
To ensure the success of the fleet manager, who may be leading the implementation of a grey fleet policy, it is often critical to get other department heads in the organisation on board.
“They need a sponsor in the organisation — human resources, or work, health and safety; or the chief financial officer,” said Mathew Prestney, director of grey fleet consultancy TR Fleet Australia. “More often than not we get traction when the CFO or someone who understands compliance and risk issues in the organisation buys in.”
Prestney said there are a lot of variables to be considered, depending on the type of organisation, what policies already exist within the organisation, and what purposes the grey fleet is used for.
“We have a mechanism that tests 87 measures against 13 broad topics,” said Prestney.
Some of the policy settings will be categorised as mandatory, while others may be recommended. Some policies will include a need for drivers to have completed a safe driver training course to be compliant.
No matter how the policy is worded, all the consultants and asset managers Fleet Auto News spoke to on this topic agree that the policy needs to be clearly written, well read and understood, and signed off by potential drivers.
Prestney said that with the right amount of focus an organisation can complete an audit and policy sign off within three months, though it’s fair to say that most organisations will take longer to put it to bed.
