January 2008, Automotive Fleet - Cover Story
Why Reimbursement Doesn't Work
By Mike Antich
Counter-Productive to Corporate Green Initiatives
Professional fleet management helps the federal government achieve its environmental objective by operating millions of well-maintained, fuel-efficient vehicles. The late-model company-provided vehicles on the road today help the government reduce tailpipe emission levels and conserve gasoline.
Consider the alternative. Without professional fleet management and company-provided vehicles, the alternative would be driver reimbursement with employees, on average, driving older, less well-maintained vehicles or large SUVs with lower fuel economy. Employee-reimbursed vehicles would emit greater emissions and consume more fuel than the alternative company-provided vehicles.
There are other ways that company-provided fleets contribute to emission reductions and conserve fuel. Fleets routinely restrict the grade of fuel drivers can purchase. For instance, the majority of fleets have policies or employ fuel cards that restrict the purchase of premium-grade fuel. Many consumers are misinformed believing their vehicles require premium-grade gasoline to operate effectively. On the contrary, the overwhelming majority of domestically manufactured vehicles are designed to operate at their optimum using unleaded gasoline. From an environmental perspective, many people may not realize that the use of premium-grade fuel actually contributes 30 percent more greenhouse emissions than regular unleaded gasoline.
The more environmental groups learn about well-maintained company-provided vehicles and how fleets control fuel purchasing habits, the more they realize how very important company-provided vehicles are in helping our nation meet its environmental objectives. In the final analysis, the absence of professional fleet management and company-provided vehicles would be detrimental to our country’s environment.
Reimbursement Sends the Wrong Company Image
A company vehicle is part of your corporate image presented to customers and the community. With driver reimbursement, an employee determines whether a vehicle is appropriate to the type of image the company wants to project.
On the other hand, a company-provided program allows you to control the suitability and appearance of the vehicles used for your business. When an employee provides the vehicle, the company surrenders this control. The wrong vehicle can send the wrong message to your customers.
The problem that a reimbursement program creates is when someone is hired who already owns a vehicle; the company will most likely have to accept whatever he or she is driving. If the job doesn’t entail customer contact, it isn’t really important what the employee’s car looks like. However, if the driver has regular contact with customers, then providing a car will ensure that your company is represented correctly.