How to know if you’re getting value from your Fleet Management Organisation (FMO)

When we meet and onboard new clients, we are often asked how a business can measure their investment in their Fleet Management Organisation (FMO).

When we meet and onboard new clients, we are often asked how a business can measure their investment in their Fleet Management Organisation (FMO). The fleet management business is often overcomplicated, and it can be difficult to determine value. But, there are several ways that you can see tangible value. And we’ve put together some critical questions to help guide you in whether it’s time to move FMO’s or not.

Try our FMO Capability Assessment to help you determine if you’re getting value out of your FMO

What is the role of an FMO?

Let’s start with what the role of an FMO is. An FMO is effectively an extension of your business providing an outsourced function to help with the optimal utilisation of your fleet both cost-efficiently and effectively whilst ensuring regulatory compliance of your vehicles and enabling the safety of your drivers. 

Key Questions to Ask Yourself if You’re Getting value out of your FMO

1. How regularly does your FMO contact you without being asked? 

Your FMO should be reaching out to you at a minimum monthly; this is because they need to keep you up to date on key trends and exceptions in the operation of your fleet to ensure there are no surprises. 

2. When did your FMO last perform a fleet review? 

Your FMO should be reviewing the performance of your fleet on a continual basis and reporting back to you key exceptions such as distance variation and improvement opportunities; this is because it doesn’t take long for anomalies to become trends that can impact on your bottom line. 

• How frequently does your FMO perform a thorough review of your fleet, whereby they review the performance of your fleet, linking operating cost to actual usage and reporting back on the delivery of savings initiatives and key performance indicators? Consider the following:
• What recommendations did they propose? 

3. Was your FMO there for you when you needed them?

• Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to get a hold of your FMO urgently? Were they there when you needed them to solve your problem and go the extra mile as you would for your customers?

A good FMO will provide you with a Relationship Manager that will enable you access to their direct line and have the expertise and support to drive your strategic fleet objectives and always be there for you when you need them.

A good FMO will nurture and reward customer loyalty by minimising the impact of unexpected events that have not been planned or budgeted for bypassing on the true costs without loading admin fees and penalties.

4. Are you being charged consistently?

• If you look at your monthly invoices and compare your monthly leasing fee, and any inclusions such as maintenance, repairs, toll, registration, telematics costs and so on, are they consistent? Or do they fluctuate across your assets?

A good FMO will invoice you promptly and accurately, so expenses incurred over a period are billed in the relevant period with detailed and accurate reporting and reconciled with it and notify you of any out of contract expenses before you see them in your invoice.

5. Have you been confronted with hidden or unexpected costs? 

The fleet management industry has been known to get creative with inclusions and exclusions and hiding the details deep in policies and terms and conditions.

6. Have you ever concluded a leasing agreement only to find that you have been charged for unfair wear and tear? Excess km?

A good FMO will work with you to monitor these monthly and make recommendations to mitigate along the way, reducing or even eradicating any end of lease or hidden/unexpected costs. 

Conclusion:

Your FMO is a partner to your business and a service provider. Are they treating you with the respect you deserve? Are they providing you with the levels of service you expected and honouring their promises? Are they answering your technical questions effectively? Or are you being directed towards the most junior person in the team?

We hope you found the above guidance questions useful. At NextFleet, we work on the guiding principles of our omotenashi practice – which is a traditional Japanese approach to hospitality, which means the customer is the at the forefront of everything we do and we use our expertise and knowledge of your business to humbly anticipate how we can serve you.

NextFleet has a team of fleet management experts who can manage all asset types, and are passionate about providing the right solutions for our client’s business, generating real results that will show tangible value to the business.