Grey fleet vehicles are generally more expensive to run, older and more damaging to the environment than the typical fleet vehicle.

And then there are the duty of care risks to consider with grey fleet falling under the same laws as company car drivers, despite many not being as closely monitored.

According to a new report from the BVRLA, over 12.5 billion miles are driven each year by 14 million grey fleet drivers here in the UK, equating to around £5.7 billion in employee expense claims.

To help combat the expense and reduce your company grey fleet usage, here are eight top tips.

1. Set realistic targets  

Once you’ve decided that the company is going to make grey fleet a priority, the next step is deciding on the objectives – do you, for instance, want to reduce your business’ CO2 output by 15%? Or do you want to drastically cut the number of miles grey fleet vehicles cover? How about encouraging active travel from employees?
 
Realistic and measureable targets mean fleet managers – and the drivers themselves – can monitor the changes and celebrate success when objectives are reached.

2. Know your journeys

Setting measureable targets is the first step, but these won’t be very useful unless the fleet team know the types of journeys that are typically undertaken while on business in grey fleet vehicles. The results of this analysis will then enable the company to create a decision-making process for future travel plans.

If a lot of the journeys, for example, are inter-city, could the company promote the use of public transport more? If a large chunk of the company’s grey fleet mileage is long distance journeys however, setting up a contract with a daily rental firm may make the most financial sense.

3. Get your stakeholders on-side

The BVRLA recommends businesses identify the key groups and stakeholders who will be impacted most by any changes to grey fleet policies and to communicate as much as possible the benefits of changes to them to make sure they are internally supported.

 4. Use a mile management capture tool

Trying to understand the types of journeys made by grey fleet vehicles could take up a lot of time and resource. One way to reduce the administrate burden is by fitting mileage capture software to all vehicles.

While installing mileage capture software to grey fleet vehicles won’t eradicate these cars from the company’s expenses account overnight, after a while fleet managers should be have a clearer picture of how efficient each vehicle is and the types of journey each employee undertakes, which will help to weigh up other options.

5. Rent a car

A useful alternative for longer-distance journeys, daily rental can be a cost-effective way of reducing grey fleet costs. However, the business case for using rental vehicles will depend on the charges and the mileage reimbursement rates paid for journeys carried out in grey fleet vehicles.

If you know you’ll be using rental more often moving forwards, speak to the firms directly and see if they can offer you a deal.

6. Let the train take the strain

Train fares can be booked up to 12 weeks in advance, so if your employees are able to plan ahead, taking the train may be a more cost-effective alternative. It’s arguably more productive too, with employees able to work while they travel between meetings.   

7. Join a car club

Car clubs work when there is consistent demand from several users who all need to make short-distance journeys from the same location. Club vehicles are generally very new and have low carbon footprints too, so help to reduce fleet emissions. Some car club operators also run daily rental companies, so you may be able to wrangle a discount if you use the two services together.

8. Lease your vehicles instead

The BVRLA suggests that drivers who cover more than 10,000 business miles a year should transfer to a company car. Before letting your employees choose their next company car, though, the BVRLA urges fleets to remember that choice lists should be generated based on whole-life costs and leasing rates to ensure staff members don’t pick vehicles which will end up costing the business more money in the long-run.