Cutting costs on the road - cutting company motor vehicle costs

Nation's Business, May, 1990 by Julie Candler

Through its vehicle-maintenance program, Consolidated refers the drivers in its clients' fleets to national auto-repair franchises such as Goodyear and Firestone stores. When maintenance service is performed, the driver has the bill sent directly to Consolidated, which pays a discounted charge for the service and bills the customer. Even with Consolidated's referral fee included, the bill to the client's headquarters typically is less than the customer would pay without belonging to Consolidated's program.

With this system, Starr says, customers "only have to write one check for fleet-maintenance work done all over the country."

In addition, for about $1.25 to $1.50 per vehicle per month, a client can have Consolidated provide reports that analyze average and life-to-date information about fixed and variable vehicle expenses. Included are reports on vehicles that are overdue for scheduled maintenance, and reports that show what years, makes, and models are performing more efficiently than others in the fleet.

This type of reporting, says Consolidated's Vice President Ron Starr, can help a fleet administrator make a "qualified decision on vehicles to order based on past operating-cost performances."

Consolidated also offers its Self-Control fleet-management software for IBM-compatible PCs. The price for the basic service is $4,500. With the software, data on every aspect of operating a fleet, from acquiring a vehicle to disposing of it, can be displayed on a screen in graphic or tabular form.

"Everything is loaded on a diskette they send to me once a month," explains Sheena Franklin of La Petite Academy, who uses Consolidated's Self-Control program. "I can load the data onto my diskette and check on a screen what has been done to each of my vehicles."

For major mechanical work such as transmission repairs, or for collision repairs, Consolidated has identified shops throughout the country equipped to handle such work. Calls for help are accepted 24 hours a day by Consolidated's service coordinators, who are mechanics. Through use of their computer, they can direct the caller to the nearest repair shop that can handle the job. Consolidated will also negotiate with the repair facility on the work to be done and the price, which is part of the service that the customer receives for the $20 charged for such a call.

Consolidated's major-mechanical program works well for Bromar Corp., a food-brokerage firm in Newport Beach, Calif. Says the company's fleet manager, Jo Nell Rogers: "If there's any major problem, we pay $20, and they will take over the responsibility of seeing that the vehicle gets to a good shop [towing charges are not included] and that we get the warranty compensation back from the manufacturer."

Rogers adds: "Consolidated has all the services you need. They give us the support and the statistics, and we can manage our fleet the way we want to do it. I have the flexibility to determine who I'm going to purchase from. I get better service from purchasing than I do from leasing. And it's more beneficial financially. If a company makes money leasing, we can certainly make that with our own leasing company."