We know managing fleets is vital for companies that have vehicles and deliver their products or services by means of them, and this certainly does not exclude vehicles that are not provided by a business or company—the so-called “grey fleet”.
Vehicles belonging to grey fleets might have been purchased via an employee ownership scheme or are privately rented or owned outright by an employee. As they are driven in order to serve the company’s business interests, they become the responsibility of the employer (at least during working hours), and this makes managing a grey fleet quite a complex task. Often companies get into the basics of operating a grey fleet without realising they are fully responsible for the vehicles’ commercial usage and often without guidance on how to protect their business by meeting their legal obligations.
In this short guide you will find information on the points you need to consider when approaching grey fleet management and the implementation of a grey fleet policy—what are the main points to grasp if your employees are using vehicles not provided by your company?
#1 Analyse your grey fleet. When and why do employees use their own vehicles in order to work? Which type of journeys do grey fleet employees do? Is the use of the grey fleet justified and convenient for the company or are there any better alternatives? This is probably the first step to take before establishing a grey fleet policy. Analyse the current conditions the grey fleet vehicles will operate in and which type of activities they will be expected to carry out—doing this exercise might actually help change something in the current setup, maybe even in favour of different solutions.
#2 Once you have the analysis, check the possible alternatives. As we said, only if you have full control of what is currently done by your grey fleet team can you decide upon approving it or opting for a different solution. Rentals might be seen as more preferable than employee-owned vehicles as these are increasingly used for grey fleet purposes and vehicle information is more readily available. Rentals aimed toward business use usually come from fleet management companies that are real experts in this area.
#3 Make sure you have vehicles checked. One of the most difficult aspects of managing a grey fleet is to keep tabs on vehicles. As these might be employee-owned, they generally are older than the usual company vehicles and it is more difficult to ensure walkaround checks are carried out diligently or that they have suitable safety equipment. A grey fleet policy can help in establishing duties and the need for employee drivers to perform safety and legal checks.
#4 Basically, employees have to be seen as company drivers. And exactly like company drivers, they need to provide evidence of their licence, have their eyesight tested on a regular basis and so on. In addition, they will need to provide details of insurance and breakdown assistance cover as they in some cases own the vehicles. And like company staff they should be properly inducted into the fleet safety policies and practices of the organisation, and their risk level assessed and managed.
