Fleet First - Energy Efficiency Best Practice in Fleet Management

Date: 2000 – 2002
Client: Commonwealth Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources

The Fleet First pilot program was run between 2000 and 2002 across approximately 30 government and commercial organisations operating in South-East Queensland, Australia.  Fleet First aimed to identify and promote energy efficiency best practice in vehicle fleet management.  By asking key questions about the size and structure of each vehicle fleet and its role in meeting the organisation’s transport needs, Exergy helped a number of organisations reduce their fleet costs and greenhouse emissions, while improving service outcomes.

Fleet First was an initiative of the Energy Efficiency Best Practice team at the Commonwealth Department of Industry Tourism and Resources (ITR).  Exergy had complete responsibility for the design and operation of many key aspects of the program, including a number of case studies and a practice and performance rating scheme.

Highlights of Exergy’s involvement in Fleet First include:

Stakeholder research

During our two-year involvement in the project, Exergy  conducted a considerable amount of stake-holder research.  The goal of this work was to ensure that the materials were appropriately targeted, identify and overcome key barriers to operational change, and to help determine the future direction of the program.  The work included:

• Characterisation of the fleet sector in terms of fleets, vehicle types, and uses.
• Identification of key stakeholders in the Australian fleet industry.
• Identification of key stakeholders in fleet change management processes.

Fleet management snapshot case study

Exergy worked with nine government and commercial organisations to identify links between management practices and fleet performance. Issues addressed in the case study include travel management, vehicle selection, vehicle maintenance and driver training. Exergy demonstrated that the best fleets achieve comparable travel distances with half the number of vehicles and using 40% less fuel than average. We were also able to demonstrate that performance improvements of this nature could be achieved only through a small range of practices, including careful management of personal use and transport demand, and an aggressive review of the fleet profile. We used the results of the case study to develop a practice rating system. Participants in the case study included several local councils, services businesses and an electricity retailer.

Vehicle selection case study

Exergy profiled changes to fleet size and composition that produced reductions in lease and fuel costs in five government agencies. Exergy identified the reasons for the success or failure of the changes at each organisation, and developed general principles for successful change management in vehicle selection.

Driver incentives case study

Exergy surveyed drivers from various organisations to determine how incentives affect driver attitudes and behaviour, and how incentives were managed by participating organisations.  Exergy identified that most organisations were inexperienced with regards to applying and managing driver incentives.  However, the study highlighted opportunities to improve driver attitudes and behaviour through strong leadership and the creation of a culture where safety and fuel efficiency are highly valuated.

Driver training case study

Exergy worked with drivers from two suburban council fleets to study the effectiveness of driver training in improving safety and fuel efficiency.  In collaboration a professional driver trainer, Exergy developed and delivered a driver training program targeting driver performance in these areas.  We found that training can produce significant improvements in on-road behaviour and in attitude towards fuel efficiency, but that the performance benefits are very limited.

Silver services

Through the Silver Services program, Exergy conducted Fleet reviews for 23 diverse organisations.  Exergy benchmarked each organisation’s practices in areas such as vehicle selection, personal use management, transport management, driver training motivation and incentives, fleet management structure, monitoring and benchmarking and maintenance.  We then applied our energy efficiency expertise and experience from the Fleet First case studies to identify and prioritise opportunities improving for management practices and performance at each organisation.

Fuel efficiency database

Exergy designed and developed a database supporting monitoring and benchmarking of fleet vehicle performance.  The database contains data on more than 3000 vehicles from around 20 organisations.

The Fleet First project highlights Exergy’s ability to work with a diverse range of organisations to achieve efficient and effective fleet management outcomes. The study also demonstrates our ability to design and co-ordinate a detailed research project that identifies key energy efficiency problems and pathways to change.