FleetView Summer 2016

FLEET VIEW SUMMER 2016

Welcome to the summer edition of FleetView.

This year has seen the FleetPartners brand expand yet again and we are delighted to welcome the FleetSmart team into our wider family. The team have integrated into our offices in Auckland and Wellington, and have assisted us in our desire to diversify the business and add value across a wider customer base.

Fleet Management as a stand-alone product remains a key to a number of businesses who prefer to own vehicles, yet benefit from the experience outsourced partners provide in managing vehicle compliance and driver behaviour, while providing cost saving initiatives in respect to the procurement, management and disposal of those assets.

With all FleetSmart data migrated to our platforms, we are now able to provide clients with our on-line capability, with the aim to deliver vehicle insights and compliance reporting. This is the first of a number of initiatives we have identified to enhance our fleet management offering and we will be rolling these out to all customers in the very near term.

In March this year we also acquired Right 2 Drive which is a service that provides a driver who has a ‘not-at-fault’ accident, the free use of a vehicle while theirs is being repaired, provided the ‘at-fault’ party has comprehensive insurance. This common law right is not well known and we will be embarking on a programme to heighten awareness for you and your staff.

Finally, on behalf of teams at FleetPartners, FleetSmart and Right 2 Drive we thank you for allowing us the opportunity to partner with you and wish you a safe and enjoyable break over the holiday period and we look forward to working with you during 2017 and beyond.

Paul Verhoeven Managing Director FleetPartners NZ

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In this issue Clean EV for dirty job.............................................................. pg 2 Civic Contractors has the mammoth task of cleaning...

EzyDrive opens leasing doors to more.................... pg 4 Flexibility in business is a great thing, and it is a core part...

Horseshoe Lake............................................................................. pg 6 Tree-by-tree gift for the future...

Right2Drive getting customers back on the road - fast ........................................................... pg 8 Organising a replacement vehicle after an accident is quite often...

Technology still a safety concern............................... pg 10 In our hyper-connected world, the fear of missing out...

The impact of environmental and driver behaviour on your bottom line................................... pg 12 Transport operations are a major and increasing contributor...

Summer Specials....................................................................... pg 16

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Clean EV for dirty job Civic Contractors has the mammoth task of cleaning a huge number of Auckland’s toilet facilities. Now, in partnership with FleetPartners, they are doing it with a cleaner vehicle.

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The company has added an allelectric Renault Kangoo ZE to its fleet. The French van can charge for just a few dollars, and travel over 100km on its battery – more than enough for city operations.

Civic Contractors’ director Bjorn Revfeim is an enthusiastic cheerleader for the vehicle and can only see advantages as it fits into urban rounds.

“It’s incredibly quiet,” he says. “Not only can the Kangoo drop the noise level in the city, but it can be plugged to a charger while actually working on a job. Not only does it mean no time gets wasted going to service stations to fill up with petrol or diesel, it’ll fill itself up while our guys are doing their work.

“We have already acquired a Nissan all-electric van and a small electric truck,” he continues. “But they’ve only really just arrived, so we’re going to get them out there doing the work and see how they cope actually doing the job. We think they’ll go really well, but we just want to trial them first.

“We essentially clean all components of the streetscape environment - lots of public toilets, litter and waste collection, sweeping, that sort of thing. One vehicle is going to fit into our graffiti team, but the Renault will actually become one of our toilet cleaning team vehicles - we’re cleaning around 300 toilets two or three times a day.”

EVs making more sense for business Electric vehicles are increasingly making sense for business use according to FleetPartners managing director Paul Verhoeven.

“NZ businesses are talking about EV’s frequently and identifying how they align with their ‘sustainable’ agenda,” Verhoeven says. “At a recent CEO summit hosted by Westpac, Air NZ and Mercury Energy, the groundswell towards EV’s was clearly evident and the request for lease quotes post this meeting has been encouraging, “This coupled with a number of OEMs committed to introducing their variants early 2017 should see a larger number of EVs visible on our roads.”

A roadblock for now is the price of the limited options on the market, but leasing, and, in the long term, market dynamics, should take care of that.

“They may seem more expensive in terms of acquisition price, but the costs to run and maintain these vehicles is very low,” he explains. “The largest ‘unknown’ is the secondary market but if you review what happened to hybrids, there are transport providers who have branded green, and have a very strong business model supported by low emission vehicles.

“I suspect that this trend will extend to no emission vehicles,” Verhoeven adds.

John Carroll, General Manager, Civic Limited (left), Andrew Bernau, Relationship Manager, FleetPartners (right)

While there won’t be a huge custom fit-out needed for the Kangoo, he says there’s still about 200kg added to the weight of the van in order to fulfill its role - mostly consumables like toilet paper, chemicals, mops and buckets.

“Everything you need to service a toilet,” he says.

Over their existing fleet of small petrol and diesel vans, Reyfeim says the biggest advantages are noise and fuel efficiency.

With the long-term durability of EV batteries still unproven, leasing presented a positive solution.

“We already have an existing relationship with FleetPartners and a long history - we lease a number of vehicles through them, so the chance to put together a partnership for an electric vehicle was a brilliant opportunity,” Reyfeim says.

“There are a lot of people who have concerns about EVs and batteries, things like that. We’ve got a full operating lease, so FleetPartners will take responsibility for any repairs that are necessary.”

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EzyDrive opens leasing doors to more

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Flexibility in business is a great thing, and it is a core part of what makes FleetPartners’ EzyDrive options so great.

What is EzyDrive? It is the chance to re-lease one of the huge selection of cars, vans and utes that are returned to FleetPartners each month when the current leases comes to an end. As you would expect, all the vehicles are prepared to a high a standard – but perhaps the best part is that because the vehicle has already been depreciated during the first lease, EzyDrive offers fantastic value for money and opens up the leasing market to new and young businesses that may not have previously had access.

FleetPartners business direct team leader, Laurie Stewart, says EzyDrive vehicles present a lower risk so they can be more flexible in the way that they lease them which can mean shorter terms, and an easier entry point.

“As long as we can see home ownership and a decent credit history we’ll consider leasing an EzyDrive vehicle to a company on a projection rather than past financial records,” says Stewart. “It’s a nice way for a new or young business to get into the marketplace, to have a vehicle to help them build their business, then when they get to the point where their business is starting to take shape, we can get them into a new vehicle.”

This flexibility can be a benefit to bigger or more established businesses as well, with one of the major channels for EzyDrive being vehicles required for shorterterm contracts.

“If a business wins a contract which requires bringing on some extra vehicles, we can get them into an EzyDrive vehicle for a 12 or 18-month contract rather than a 36 or 45-month contract for a new vehicle. For shorter term needs, we can even arrange a rental through one of our partners at rates considerably less than normal retail rental firms.”

Stewart believes a huge advance for used vehicle leasing is that FleetPartners can offer the same level of service as for their new vehicle leasing. Maintained or non-maintained, insurance, warranties, and even GPS tracking systems “That is a huge benefit for clients that take EzyDrive vehicles on, and its largely unheard of. They can enjoy trouble and hassle free motoring and concentrate on more important things.”

Has there been any negative feedback from end users about getting a used car?

Stewart says no, noting some users have chosen going down that path for the upgrade benefits it offers.

A user with a budget entitling them to a Toyota Corolla could, for example, find they can secure a Mazda CX-5 from EzyDrive.

There are a range of other benefits as well: lower fringe benefits tax exposure, fixed payments, and at times vehicles will already be fitted with hardware or options.

For more information visit www.fleetpartners.co.nz/lease-solutions/ products/ezydrive/

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Horseshoe Lake Tree-by-tree gift for the future

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Crowd funding is undoubtedly the way of the future. A huge number of community-based projects get a major boost this way from the people to which they truly matter.

Traditional funding channels for environmental and eco projects can take years to come to fruition and then can be a mere fraction of what’s actually needed.

At the other extreme, Horseshoe Lake in the Hawkes Bay is part of the excellent Million Metres project, with the end goal of re-establishing the area to its former glory, replanting the shores of the lake to support a lush native forest. With this comes waterfowl and other species whose natural habitats follow the rejuvenated area.

Lake custodians - the Hart family; Greg, Rachel and three children George, Bill and Emma - have been tirelessly plugging away at the project since 2002. In this time, bit by bit, the family have enlisted locals and community funding to plant thousands of native trees, flaxes and reeds - gradually turning Horseshoe Lake into the functional jewel of the area it once was.

But it’s corporate funding from supportive businesses like FleetPartners that often gives the extra push to get each consecutive stage over the line - giving a lasting gift to future generations.

“The healthy ecosystems we create will flow on to everyone – in the form of cleaner air, water and soil, thriving animal life and healthy food.”

“A lot of businesses purchase carbon credits to offset or neutralise personal or organisational CO2 emissions.

These Carbon Credits are generated through native forest regeneration all around the world”, says Marketing Manager for FleetPartners New Zealand, Gail McNamara.

“FleetPartners wanted something closer to home but more importantly wanted to be able to follow and get involved with, a local scheme that was focused on making a difference to our own backyard. Last year, FleetPartners contributed to the Belmont Stream and Woodridge planters in Wellington that went towards reducing the amount of silt going into the Poriua Harbour. This year our contribution went to restoring Horseshoe Lake at Managarara in the Hawkes Bay”.

“It’s nice to think that as you drive around New Zealand, that we are contributing in some small way.”

Read more about Horseshoe Lake and other widereaching projects that are literally changing the world at http://millionmetres.org.nz/funded-project/restoringhorseshoe-lake-at-mangarara-the-family-farm. There are a number of options outlined on the site to join FleetPartners and contribute - quite literally - at a grassroots level.

“The benefits of the restoration work we do today are for our future generations,” the eco-conscious family says, with very justifiable pride.

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Right2Drive getting customers back on the road - fast Organising a replacement vehicle after an accident is quite often the last thing that drivers - whether ‘at fault’ or ‘not at fault’ – think about.

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That’s where Right2Drive comes in. It’s not a car hire company, at least, not in the traditional sense, its entire business model is set up around providing accident replacement vehicles post-accident to not at fault customers at no cost.

The standout feature of Right2Drive’s service is ‘No Fault, No Cost, No Worries’ - an absolute boon to those who were simply taken out by another driver.

To qualify for a ‘no fault, no cost’ accident replacement vehicle, drivers must be the not-at-fault party in a motor vehicle accident with an ‘at-fault’ driver who is either: • Comprehensively insured or; • Insured for Third Party Property damage.

To support FleetPartners service commitment to minimise customer inconvenience, Right2Drive joins FleetPartners as a key partner.

FleetPartners business direct team leader, Laurie Stewart explains that in the event of an accident (no matter if the driver is at fault or not) lease customers are provided with a replacement vehicle ‘as soon as possible’, for up to 28 days, in which time their vehicle is either repaired or replaced. There are however times that ‘as soon as possible’ is not ‘soon enough’ and this is where Right2Drive can help.

“Recently we had a situation where the client was on the phone to the FleetPartners account manager, who organised a Right2Drive vehicle, and it was on its way before the call had even finished.”

“They’re keen to ensure that they keep people mobile.

The only way to do that is to get the vehicle to them as fast as they can.”

If you lease a car, Right2Drive makes sure that the replacement car is as close to the vehicle leased as possible – no dropping your Audi at the panelbeater only to be handed the keys to a ten-year-old Suzuki as a replacement.

Feedback from clients has been extremely positive according to Stewart.

“Most people are absolutely over the moon,” he says.

“They are kept mobile and it is a quick process. It’s also important to note that Right2Drive is available to anyone, not just leasing customers, which means family and friends are taken care of with the same level of service in a ‘not at fault’ accident” Right2DriveNew Zealand manager Joe Ellul explains the concept behind the service goes back to simple common law, that it is the at fault party’s responsibility to maintain your quality of life.

“If you are out of your car for three weeks, that is a massive inconvenience.”

He adds that not only are normal repairer courtesy cars often small and old, there is often a waiting list.

It is Ellul and his team that make the final call on fault when it comes to providing a car at no cost, and if they find they have it wrong, they just ask for the car to be returned to Right2Drive, but at no cost to the driver for the time they have had it. A rare exception however, and he has not had to do this in New Zealand yet, would be if the customer has lied about the circumstances of the incident.

Right2Drive cars are new or ex- lease vehicles: “From BMWs to Barinas” So far the service is only available in Auckland and Christchurch, although there are plans to go nationwide with moves into Hamilton, Wellington and north of Auckland next year.

NOT AT-FAULT ACCIDENT?

DON’T PAY FOR A

REPLACEMENT CAR.

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Technology still a safety concern In our hyper-connected world, the fear of missing out is such a reality that almost everyone uses a mobile phone at some time while driving their vehicle.

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It may be illegal to do anything with a mobile phone while you’re driving, but it’s one of those laws that many decide doesn’t apply to them - at least some of the time.

In our hyper-connected world, the fear of missing out is such a reality that almost everyone uses a mobile phone at some time while driving their vehicle.

or the fastest turn-around time, they should also be looking at who’s going to do the job most safely.

A good start would be asking: ‘Does your fleet have a safe use of mobile phones policy for their vehicular workplaces?’ Followed by ‘Do they have a safe fleet purchasing policy?’

Hopefully your drivers will never be in a car crash. But building structures into your policy such as this will help to create a safety framework.

It may be illegal to do anything with a mobile phone while you’re driving, but it’s one of those laws that many decide doesn’t apply to them - at least some of the time.

As an example, Australia’s equivalent to our Automobile Association based in Melbourne, launched its National Road Safety Partnership Program ‘Safe Use of Mobiles in Vehicles’ in 2014 - a guide for businesses and corporates on mobile phone policies for all types of workplace use.

The very next day, a member of the steering committee broke all the rules, and snapped a selfie while driving.

Tragically, she was looking down as it uploaded to social media - and didn’t see the fuel tanker that cost her life.

This terrible incident underlines the necessity of developing ways of protecting employees, fleets and companies themselves.

All businesses have the power to encourage massive change, much faster and more proactively than government, and we’re asking all organisations to do what they can do to develop effective ‘safe use of mobiles in vehicles’ (SUMV) policies.

However, fleet managers are busy enough just trying to keep their vehicles running, let alone having to deal with this epidemic. But looking further up the ladder can help.

The knock-on effects are many because most congestion is because of an accident – reducing that helps us get from A to B more efficiently.

We’ve spoken to so many big businesses who are saying it’s too hard, or they have tried introducing a ban policy.

But then their senior executives will admit to using their phones on occasions while driving.

Presenting them with a common-sense approach, backed up by evidence, businesses will sit-up and pay attention.

Insurers have been trying for ages to get traction with this, but again, more peers taking action will have a positive knock-on effect.

Safety can be built into contract requirements, so that it becomes an expectation. When big business or governments are looking around for the best price,

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The impact of environmental and driver behaviour on your bottom line

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Transport operations are a major and increasing contributor of carbon emissions, but what can you do about it?

Transport operations are a major and increasing contributor of carbon emissions, but what can you do about it?

If “going green” doesn’t ring your bell, then maybe the prospect of increasing the profitability of your fleet, by significantly reducing your fleet operating costs, does?

Running a greener fleet costs less with reduced operating costs, and leads to a boost in overall profitability...so even climate change deniers have good reasons to run a green fleet.

How can the fleet management professional run a greener fleet?

Thankfully, there are a number of strategies that you can put into place to reduce your carbon emissions. The old adage “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” is still true today, so a good place to start is by measuring your carbon footprint.

If your organisation chooses to reduce carbon emissions for all of their operations, you will first need to determine

your carbon emissions boundary. Following this you will probably find that like most organisations your transportation activities are a major, if not the primary contributor, to your carbon emissions, particularly if you have a large fleet travelling many kilometres.

Remember, this includes your company vehicles as well as your grey fleet vehicles – where employees use their private vehicles for your business purposes.

While it is generally true that very early adopters do usually pay a higher price, it is time to bust the myth that being green costs more. Green technologies and methods are developing all of the time and some have already been around for quite some time.

You don’t always have to be the first to adopt the latest green technology, but if you aren’t adopting any then you are already starting to fall behind and you’re missing out on the benefits. Quite often now the greener, less emitting option, is the cheaper option.

So just what options are available to green your fleet so you can save on emissions and money?

Well, thinking before you buy will assist in choosing a more economical fleet. New Zealand already has a mandatory consumer information with labeling on all new and used import cars.

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As part of considering the green credentials of vehicles you can easily pursue a progressive downsizing strategy.

Traditionally, larger vehicles have been over-used in many fleets when a smaller, more fuel efficient vehicle would be fit for the same purpose.

You can progressively move towards more fuel efficient vehicles as part of your procurement process. This will see a notable shift from larger six cylinder products to smaller four cylinder products, as well as a shift to more fuel efficient products within the same cylinder class.

The result being less fuel use and fewer emissions.

Once you have the right vehicles to lower emissions, you should consider how these vehicles are being used.

Historically, the motor vehicle has been considered a right of many employees to have full choice and exclusive use of their salary-packaged vehicle.

However, this may be an expensive option to try and retain employees with potentially under-utilised and fast depreciating assets remaining idle for too long in the company car park. Perhaps these days are coming to an end with the motor vehicle increasingly seen as a privilege, not a right.

For light passenger fleets, the company’s vehicles can be shared across the organisation, whether they are an unassigned vehicle or part of someone’s salary package.

Car sharing is now becoming very popular with startup businesses disrupting the marketplace. Not only are private individuals and families making choices to utilise car sharing programs, but so are businesses. Some organisations are complementing their company fleet with shared vehicles, and some have even chosen to substitute their entire grey fleet with this option utilising FleetPartners Pool Booking system to help manage the process.

Measuring and encouraging better driver behaviour Traffic fatalities represent the greatest proportion of workrelated deaths in New Zealand... more than 30% of these, as well as 13% of workplace injuries, happen on the road.

So how can businesses manage this better.

If you provide someone who has been driving for years with the suggestion that they need to complete a driver assessment, the first thing you will get is push back.

“I know how to drive…I’ve been driving for years, there’s nothing wrong with me.”

The fact is that we all pick up bad habits and sometimes it takes going through a refresher course or safety driver day to help us acknowledge that we could be doing things a lot better.

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Today, technology can also play a big part in monitoring these behaviours but more importantly, they can empower drivers to make changes by sharing with them their own reports. One business we know of has even opened the results up to all drivers to encourage open competition to improve behaviours eg. speeding There is a range of telematics solutions in the market that range from a hard wired solution to a portable plug in device. The difference is in the level of detail you require to best manage your business and your primary duty of care obligations under the Health and Safety Act.

The benefits of choosing a telematics solution: Better and safer drivers Driver behaviour tools enable you to better identify and manage the risks around driver fatigue, speeding and harsh braking. A mobile solution from LogBookMe enables drivers to register trips from their phone as they arrive at their destination. This means they don’t spend time back in the office filling in reports and you with real-time information.

GPS Tracking GPS tracking lets you identify everything from high risk zones and creating geo-fences through to managing utilisation, servicing, fuel and FBT reporting.

Vehicle utilisation Make sure the investment you make in your vehicles is right for your business. Reporting helps you identify underused vehicles and right-size your fleet to give maximum return on investment.

Pool Booking Take the hassle out of managing log books with a simple online booking system that will help you manage and report on usage and drivers.

Reporting and analytics Access to information and reporting is available real-time, 24/7 from secure online Simple, intuitive reports give you the information you need, when you need it, to better manage your business Electronic RUC In New Zealand EROAD makes managing road user charges for your vehicles seamless and simple. The EROAD device is mounted on the windscreen and replaces the traditional paper RUC licence. The returns include removing administration, off-road reclaims and reduced cash sitting on your window.

Plug and Play The LogbookMe device is a clever little gadget, which plugs into the OBD-II (on-board diagnostics) port of your vehicle, much like how a mechanic might do to service your vehicle. The device is compatible in almost every car built after 1996 and because it’s plug and play, installation takes only a matter of seconds. Once it’s installed, it does all the hard work in the background so you won’t have to!

Installation 1.

2.

Most OBD-II ports are located under the driver’s side dashboard around the bottom of the steering column.

Once you locate the OBD-II port in your vehicle, installation is simply a firm push to plug in the device and that’s it (were you expecting more?).

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Summer Specials For other great offers visit: www.fleetpartners.co.nz/promotions

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Holden Captiva LS 2WD 7 Seat

429

$

*

+GST per month

from

*Lease rate based on a Non Maintained Operating Lease for 60,000kms over 48 months for a Holden Captiva LS 2 WD 7 Seater. Normal credit criteria and conditions apply. Model pictured may differ from model quoted. Other terms and Km’s available on request.

Offer available until 31 December 2016.

4WD Double Cab from * $

579 +GST per month

140pc

Starter Tool Kit Included in every lease.

Holden Colorado LTZ 2WD Double Cab

449

$

*

+GST per month

from

*Lease rate based on a Non Maintained Operating Lease for 60,000kms over 48 months for a Holden Colorado LTZ 2WD Double Cab Wellside Auto and includes a TengTools 140 pc Metric Starter Kit. Normal credit criteria and conditions apply. Model pictured may differ from model quoted. Other terms and Km’s available on request. Offer available until 31 December 2016.

Kia Sportage LX 2WD 2L Petrol

$ from

349

*

+GST per month

*Lease rate based on a Non Maintained Operating Lease for 60,000kms over 48 months for a Kia Sportage LX 2WD 2L Petrol Auto. Normal credit criteria and conditions apply. Model pictured may differ from model quoted. Other terms and Km’s available on request. Offer available until 31 December 2016.

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