With the help of the Energy Saving Trust, find out if you are a green hero, a traditionalist or somewhere in between.

WHEN CONSIDERING YOUR VEHICLE CHOICE LIST, WHAT DO YOU PROMOTE?

A Cars with low CO2 emissions, which will reduce employee benefit-in-kind car tax and National Insurance contributions.

B Cars with the highest horsepower and acceleration rates – within their allowance, of course…

C Nothing. It’s up to employees to choose whatever they prefer.

D Cars which we get the best deal on from manufacturers – contacts are everything in this business.

WHEN IT COMES TO THE MAINTENANCE OF COMPANY VEHICLES, DO YOU:

A Ensure that vehicles are regularly serviced and that drivers are obliged to check their tyre pressures regularly – poorly maintained vehicles have higher emissions and fuel consumption?

B Make sure that vehicles are serviced in line with manufacturer guidelines or whenever a driver complains about performance?

C Get vehicles serviced when it is required – it’s up to the driver/leasing company to make sure that they keep services up to date?

D Have the best maintained fleet in the country?

WITH ALL THE NEW GREEN CARS ON THE MARKET, YOUR COURSE OF ACTION IS TO:

A Evaluate low-carbon cars – they might benefit your fleet and drivers.

B Have a test drive to see how they handle, but more for the experience than for serious research for the company fleet.

C If someone wants one and it has been cleared then that’s fine.

D If it’s commercially viable then we would look at having a test vehicle in the fleet.

WHICH OF THESE STATEMENTS ACCURATELY DESCRIBES YOUR APPROACH TO BUSINESS MILEAGE?

A I identify opportunities to reduce mileage by recording and analysing business travel.

B I keep a general eye on drivers’ mileage but so long as there are no big anomalies I don’t worry about it.

C Staff need to travel to wherever they need to travel. If the cost gets too high then finance will pull them up.

D I run the fleet and record the mileage but I’m not paid to tell people where to go.

WHEN IT COMES TO ROUTE PLANNING FOR BUSINESS JOURNEYS:

A I promote satellite navigation and telematics and provide access to websites and route planners to minimise vehicle mileage.

B I recommend taking the fastest route – time is money!

C It’s up to individuals to plan their journeys and make sure that they don’t get lost – I’m not their parent.

D There are a variety of options open to drivers, all of which can be discussed with their managers.

YOUR CEO ASKS ABOUT AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY CAR BUT STILL WANTS TOP-OF-THE-RANGE. DO YOU:

A Explain that there is actually a wide range of beautiful, low-carbon, executive models available that don’t require a compromise?

B Start pulling out your stash of dream machine brochures? They’ll soon forget about the environment bit once they see these beauties.

C Say you’ll check with the leasing companies and have an option on their desk tomorrow morning?

D Say you’ll have a word with your contacts at the prestige manufacturers to see what they’ve got and get some test drives sorted out shortly?

HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR FUEL COSTS?

A We use fuel cards and get regular reports from our fuel card supplier.

B We’ve got top of the range software, but not many people bother to put the information in.

C Business mileage is claimed through expenses, so it’s one for the finance department.

D We use a mixture of fuel cards for business and expenses for perk.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT YOUR VEHICLES ARE BEING DRIVEN AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE?

A We have a programme of driver training along with on-going management and top-up support.

B So long as drivers are obeying the law, who are we to tell them how to drive?

C Unless drivers get a speeding ticket, I wouldn’t know how they’re driving their cars.

D For identified bad drivers we have driver training programmes and all other drivers get information on efficient driving in their handbooks.

HOW WOULD YOU GO ABOUT CALCULATING YOUR FLEET’S CARBON FOOTPRINT?

A We keep fuel records from the drivers’ fuel cards, so have the information we need to calculate a carbon footprint for our fleet.

B Carbon footprint calculation? Why would I bother with that? It’s a pointless waste time. There’s no such thing as climate change anyway.

C Call the environment manager and hope that they can work it out.

D We have a pretty good idea of our fleet’s fuel consumption from our expenses. I’m not sure that it would be accurate enough to produce anything meaningful, though.

WHICH STATEMENT BEST DESCRIBES YOUR FLEET POLICY?

A Our policy contains a CO2 benchmark figure and drivers are incentivised to choose low-carbon cars below that figure.

B Our policy allows free choice for drivers, including soft-tops and 4x4s.

C I don’t think we have a fleet policy. If we do, it’s the company’s best- kept secret.

D We’ve had a robust fleet policy since 1987 – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

How did you do?

MOSTLY A:

You’re an Environmental Fleet Hero

You know your stuff, you’re clued up as to what works for your company’s bottom line and the environment, and you’re always striving for improvement.

MOSTLY B: You’re a Car Nut

You love your cars and always have, it’s what drew you into the field – especially the testing and demonstration days that manufacturers put on.

However, running a more environmentally-friendly fleet doesn’t have to go against your passion for all things vroom – win mega brownie points with the boss through implementing green fleet management, which will save the company cash and help reduce its business carbon emissions.

MOSTLY C: You’re an Accidental Fleet Manager.

You never actually applied for the job of fleet manager at your company and it probably wasn’t something that you discussed with you careers adviser at school, but the responsibility for running the company car fleet falls under your job description.

Getting the company fleet in order really isn’t as tough as you think.

MOSTLY D: You’re a Traditionalist

When you joined the industry fuel was five bob a gallon and you could fill tomes with your knowledge on fleet management. However, there could still be something more about the environment that you could add to your environmental practices.

 

• Whatever type of fleet manager you are, there could be something extra you could do.

  The Energy Saving Trust offers a free green fleet review consultancy service to English and Welsh firms with more than 50 vehicles and Scottish firms with more than 20 vehicles. A free telephone consultancy service is available for fleets of 49 vehicles or fewer.