Wheels Inc. has become the first fleet management company to offer a program to help its clients manage reimbursed vehicles, the company has announced.

Reimbursing employees for using their own vehicle for business purposes has traditionally been used by organizations as an alternative to company-provided vehicles. The new Wheels program will help clients manage reimbursed vehicles "to the same professional standards as their company-provided fleet," according to the fleet management company.

"Many of our clients have varying transportation and driver needs in their fleet — leasing may work best in some applications, while reimbursement may work better in others," said Dan Frank, president of Wheels. "Seasonal work, medical exceptions, new hires, startup initiatives, low-mileage drivers, cultural issues or acquisition of a company with an existing reimbursement program are some of the reasons we've found clients may choose reimbursement for a segment of their employees."

With the program, Wheels is offering a managed maintenance program, insurance verification, driver safety, mileage logging, and strategic account management. The managed maintenance program is a standard benefit of the program that reduces driver downtime, helps ensure vehicles are kept in safe working condition and limits out-of-pocket expenses and administration for drivers, according to Wheels.

Additionally, through Wheels' Results+ Fleet Performance Program, each Wheels client is provided with an account manager who analyzes each segment of the client's fleet and presents strategic recommendations for each driver.

"For many years, the industry thought that the decision was lease versus reimbursement," said Kip Fournier, director of reimbursement sales at Wheels. "At Wheels, we believe there are appropriate uses of both and that a fleet's reimbursement program should be as just as well-managed as its leased program."

Editor's note: Read the full story about Wheels' reimbursement program in the February 2016 issue of Automotive Fleet.