DEUTSCHE Post has started reorganising its fleet sourcing contracts for tens of thousands of vehicles around the globe following the company's recent acquisition of DHL and Securicor.

The newly-formed Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) will be seeking to base its fleet spend across four categories: vans, cars, heavy vehicles and fleet goods and services. It has a worldwide fleet of 100,000 vehicles and the current review will be one of the biggest and most important in European fleet history.

Leading the operation as chief procurement officer is Peter O'Brien, who was responsible for initiating a pan-European and global fleet review at DHL in 2001/2002. O'Brien reports to DPWN's board member in charge of corporate services, Dr Frank Appel.

DHL's main partners following the recent review were Renault (small CVs), Ford (medium CVs), Daimler-Chrysler (large CVs), and LeasePlan.

O'Brien said DPWN would be seeking car manufacturer and fleet support partners who were proactive, international and innovative. The first procurement category to be tackled will be vans.

O'Brien said: 'It is not just the fleet management and fleet support partners who must provide us with this value-added help and innovation. We are looking at vehicle manufacturers to also help us improve our business. For example, we need vehicle design and specifications that are suited to our broad array of operations.'

Much of the procurement will be done at a regional level, such as Europe-wide or USA-wide, as DPWN said there is little evidence as yet that the fleet market is global. O'Brien expects his mix of vehicles to become even more dependent on vans under Deutsche Post ownership.

'This is going to be a very visible, open process, which we are encouraging all players to be part of,' added O'Brien. 'It is a huge opportunity for fleet suppliers. What we did at DHL has been very helpful, and has provided us with a terrific base from which to organise DPWN's fleet.'