Fleet Factors: Choosing the Best Business Vehicle for Your Company

If you are running a fleet of business vehicles, whether it is a just a few or a few hundred vehicles, it is important that you consider a variety of different factors, so that you can ensure that you make a good choice when choosing the best business vehicle for your company.

Passenger and vehicle safety is definitely one of the factors that should be considered, as in the event of a car accident, you will want to know that the vehicle is up to the job and the driver has taken all reasonable safety measures.

Implementing a vehicle safety policy

One of the fundamental aspects of successful fleet management involves implement a vehicle safety policy and keeping accurate and up-to-date driver records.

Your aim should ideally to create a policy that clearly demonstrates a commitment to employee safety and also sets out the responsibilities that you expect drivers and passengers in company vehicles to adhere to at all times.

The policy needs to cover all employees responsibilities, including when they use a vehicle for personal use and this needs to be acknowledged in writing, confirming that they have read and understood the contents.

There is also a need to keep driver records, so you know of any license violations and any DUI and DWI history. These records should be reviewed at least annually.

Most efficient way of acquiring your vehicles

Having sorted out the safety aspects of running a fleet of business vehicles, another issue that needs addressing is to establish which is the most efficient way of acquiring your vehicles, asking the question, should you buy. lease or rent?

What seems to be happening more these days is that companies are employing a mix of different acquisition options.

Leasing can be an efficient option for businesses who have employees undertaking daily business travel and there are some potential tax advantages relating to either full or partial business use, as well as being able to budget for maintenance costs as part of the leasing deal.

It could be argued that leasing a vehicle rather than owning it, does provide a more transparent view of all of your vehicle costs, which is not always the case if you own a business vehicle outright.

Fuel cards help with administration

You want to find a way of managing your fleet administration in the most efficient way possible and one way of cutting down on the paperwork is to set up a company fuel card system.

Fuel cards can help you to keep track of all of your fuel expenditure in one easy place and cuts down on administration, as you are not having to process reimbursement claims.

Other points to consider when organizing your business vehicle fleet, include trying to decide which make and model of vehicle is best suited to your needs, and which one is the most tax-efficient as well.

If you are going to offer a company car to an employee as part of their remuneration package, it is often a good idea to limit the choice to a range of pre-approved vehicles, where you have identified that the maintenance and running costs are acceptable and CO2 emissions are acceptable.

Choosing the best vehicle and getting your safety policy right is not a five-minute task, but it is something that is definitely worth researching and getting right.

Sebastian Hardy writes about business vehicles, drawing on his knowledge from his job as a fleet manager. He enjoys getting to share his tips with others.

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About Dequiana Jackson

Dequiana Jackson, Founder of Inspired Marketing, Inc., helps overachieving women entrepreneurs conquer limiting beliefs and create marketing plans that grow their businesses. This includes one-on-one marketing plan development, digital product creation, web design and content marketing. Dequiana is the author of Know Your Business: How to Attract Ideal Clients & Sell More and runs the award-winning blog, Entrepreneur-Resources.net.

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