A free Excel spreadsheet template for fleets is available to download from fleet software specialist FleetCheck.

The move is being made to support the small to medium car and van fleet operators with a stepping stone to adopting better compliance using a format familiar in almost all business environments, it said.

Peter Golding (pictured), managing director at FleetCheck, explained: “In SMEs and even in larger companies, the fleet is often the responsibility of someone with accountancy training and these people tend to want to use Excel to manage their fleet. It is a tool with which they are very familiar and comfortable.

“We have long said, and still believe, even though they provide a stepping stone to proper fleet software you can’t manage a fleet fully by soley using spreadsheets. They just cannot provide the degree of legal, financial and operational control required. 

“To this end, we have created a template that covers a range of fleet basics. In a way, it is a method designed to introduce best practice in to this group of fleet decision makers who, in the past, may be unaware of the benefits inherent in a dedicated system or perhaps simply nervous to change existing processes.”

The Excel template being provided by FleetCheck covers areas such as key dates, whole fleet list and basic driver details.

All can be downloaded from the FleetCheck website – www.fleetcheck.co.uk/free-excel-template.

Golding said: “The Excel spreadsheets can be easily uploaded into our fleet management software so, if anyone wants to adopt better tools to manage their fleet in the future, they can do so painlessly. All of their existing data can be imported.”