What is a fleet audit and what is it for?
As mentioned above, the aim of a fleet audit is to optimize the management of your vehicle fleet (fleet management) so that it costs as little as possible and is as efficient as possible.
An audit involves gathering information on your vehicle fleet, and measuring the compliance of fleet operations with your company's processes, procedures and policies. To ensure that all the rules are respected, an audit will also study your company's needs and ensure that your vehicle fleet becomes more efficient.
Any fleet audit will evaluate:
- If the company stores fleet information correctly.
- Whether the company respects its processes, procedures and fleet operating policies.
This assessment is generally carried out when a company or local authority wants to reduce the operating costs of its fleet.
In the case of an electric car audit, in addition to the usual points, you'll also need to quantify the vehicle'srange, as well as its recharging and recharging points.
After all, the number of electric cars in your fleet will continue to grow. In recent years, the government has shown a real determination to reduce thecarbon footprint of companies in order to protect the environment. This desire is reflected in a number of regulations that will come into effect over the next few years.
For example, from 2022, it will be mandatory to include 10% clean vehicles in all fleet renewals involving more than 100 vehicles. So you need to think now about choosing partners who are experts in electric vehicles, in order to facilitate this transition.
Find out more: everything you need to know about the vehicle fleet.
Why carry out a fleet audit?
An audit of your vehicle fleet can be carried out for a number of reasons. It may be essential in the event of restructuring to save money, or in the event of a change in the number of vehicles in your fleet.
A clear view of your fleet
Carrying out a fleet audit will give you an overall view of your vehicle fleet and possible levers for optimization. The aim is to understand how the fleet is operating at any given time, and how much it costs the company. A fleet audit involves analyzing your fleet and comparing it with best practices.
A new financial or structuring objective
An audit of your vehicle fleet can also be carried out when your vehicle costs are rising and you don't understand why. The aim of a fleet audit is to reduce costs. The first step is to optimize vehicle fluidity and operability, and the second is to reduce costs.
The other reason for an audit may be due to a large number of recently acquired vehicles, an evolution of the fleet or a change in the company's needs, in which case the audit is part of a structuring plan. This is necessary, for example, when the company is rapidly increasing its number of vehicles.
Acting for the environment
The reasons for the audit may also be different, for example following the introduction of WLTP or the Mobility Orientation Law (LOM).
What's more, with the growing number of regulations concerning clean vehicles, companies want to know how to make their fleets cleaner or reduce the number of vehicles in their fleet. Or simply, in line with their CSRsome companies want to reduce their carbon footprint, by making the ecological transition of their business.
In this case, it is necessary to calculate its carbon footprint before starting to implement solutions.
How to carry out a fleet audit?
The fleet audit can be carried out by your fleet manager, but for a more qualitative and serious result, it's safer to turn to a consulting firm. What's more, some fleets require special expertise, such as those made up of electric vehicles, or those made up entirely of green vehicles.
For fleets with electric vehicles, Beev can help you by offering its expertise in this field. For example, you'll need to use special management software for these vehicles. For more information about our consulting services, you can request a free diagnosis. Our Beev experts will support you throughout your project.
Our checklist for carrying out your own fleet audit
As carrying out a fleet audit is a complicated and time-consuming process, we've put together a checklist of points to address.
- Fleet policy
- Review fleet safety policy
- Check health and safety policies
- Vehicles
- Review vehicle condition notes
- Review vehicle defect forms
- Review vehicle monitoring procedures
- Review the projected vehicle replacement plan
- Analyze fuel consumption
- Drivers
- Evaluating drivers
- Inspecting insurance agreements
- Check operator license
- Check operator license
- Third party
- Examine third-party service providers
- Fleet Safety
- Assessing safety
- Operational
- Review inventory
Still having trouble completing your audit despite our checklist? Contact us at and we'll put our skills to work for you.
What do you need to know about fleet audits?
Who commissions the fleet audit?
When carried out by an external service provider, the audit can be commissioned by different types of people.
Requests generally come from specialist departments who are aware that there is room for improvement or need help with a refresher course - often finance managers, for example," says Maxime Sartorius, Managing Director of Direct Fleet.
The sponsor is an operational rather than a strategic position: it's often someone from management, general services or the quality department, who needs a global vision. In practice, a purchasing manager or finance director will be more particularly focused on costs, by renegotiating contracts but also by deploying a more concentrated catalog, for example by reducing the number of vehicles in an HR category from four to two, illustrates Arnaud Perrin, head of Ressource Consulting.
The fleet manager or HR department will be much more attentive to the range of vehicles available for the driver, and to how smoothly the system can be managed.
It's worth noting that it's rarely the fleet manager who requests an audit, as he or she doesn't necessarily have the authority to order such missions, which is more the responsibility of his or her N+1.
Delays to be taken into account?
A fleet audit requires an investment of time. "Most audits take between four and eight weeks to complete, but in practice the time taken depends on the size of the fleet. The more vehicles, the more suppliers and data. However, data collection will be easier in a large fleet if it is well structured and managed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, carrying out a fleet audit is a complex process, but one that is essential to the successful management of your company's fleet. It will enable you to adapt your fleet to your new needs, and it will ensure that vehicles are managed correctly and that there are no errors in your fleet management. We recommend that you carry out an internal audit (i.e. by the fleet manager) every year, and external audits (i.e. by a consulting firm) whenever your fleet or company has undergone major changes since the last external audit. For example, this could involve an increase in the number of vehicles in the fleet, or a change in brand requirements.
