BATTLE: Blue light fleets have faced big cuts
Workshops are becoming the key area where blue light fleets are struggling to cope with government budget cuts, Chevin Fleet Solutions have claimed.
Fleet management software specialist Chevin work with the majority of the UK’s ambulance services as well as many police and fire fleets.
And Ashley Sowerby, Managing Director of Chevin, said austerity measures were having a lasting impact on blue light fleets.
“Obviously, the government’s austerity measures have started to affect blue light fleets during the last couple of years and there is very real pressure in many instances to reduce spending,” he said.
“Most blue lights are already extremely well run in terms of key fleet variables such as utilisation, replacement cycles and so on.
“The options available to managers when it comes to coping with austerity are actually relatively limited.
“Our view is that workshops have become the key cost battleground.
“Most blue light fleets continue to run their own workshops for very good reasons such as the need for a zero tolerance approach to risk management and longer operating hours than most third parties can offer, and it is here that potential for savings are being identified.”
Mr Sowerby explained that Chevin could see that blue light fleets were looking to streamline workshop operations and increase operational efficiency.
This, he claimed, was evident from the way in which the workshop module within Chevin’s FleetWave fleet management system was being used.
“There is a lot of work going on to use the available technology to reduce costs,” he added.
“This can be as simple as moving from T cards to an online record keeping system that allows a much more efficient throughflow of work.
“At the other extreme, we are seeing much greater use of software generated management information to create advanced SMR policies that enable much closer control over spending, with some very good results being achieved.
“The standard of management of blue light fleets across the country is, in our experience, very high and managers are reacting to the cost pressures being placed on them with thoroughness and imagination.”
Chevin software is used in more than 190 countries worldwide to manage around 700,000 vehicles.
Image courtesy of I.bailey_beverley, with thanks.
