The Covid-19 pandemic still continues to provide challenges to fleets and operators within the industry, while the government looks to manage the infection rate across the country with different measures. Vehicle safety might be one of the challenges, as many cars might be unused or uninspected for a long period of time due to a decline in business travelling. Furthermore, many businesses had to adapt to managing their fleets remotely, which brought further implications.
Some other trends such as online shopping are likely to persist even after Covid-19. Increasing number of deliveries, means a need for greater number of vehicles. With this in mind, the implementation of effective health and safety measures should be a priority, in order to protect drivers, as well as the public at large. On the other hand, grey fleet activity is also growing, due to the risk of Covid-19 associated infection, which can contribute to additional fleet management responsibility. Grey fleet vehicles should be closely monitored by fleet managers, in the same way as company vehicles.
Needless to say, Covid-19 pandemic is shaping a new management approach for the fleet industry. The Fleet Industry Advisory Group (FIAG) Chairman Ian Housley has emphasized on the importance of ensuring best practice processes covering drivers, journeys and vehicles, necessary for post pandemic future.