“Spreadsheet fleets” falling further and further behind best practice

Fleets who continue to try to manage their operations using generic spreadsheet software are falling further and further behind industry best practice, according to CFC Solutions.

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The fleet software industry market leader says that even some quite large fleets with vehicles numbered in the high hundreds are managed using spreadsheets but that as a tool they are just not sophisticated or flexible enough to meet the demands of fleets operating in a modern environment.

Neville Briggs, managing director at CFC Solutions, said: "The gap between best and worst practice in the fleet industry has probably widened in the last few years, and ‘spreadsheet fleets’ are symptomatic of this trend.

"At one extreme, we see fleets that were already efficient whose approach has been sharpened further still by the recession, while at the other we see those with a very piecemeal, reactive approach. The gap between the former and the latter is often indicated by their approach to technology, with the latter doggedly sticking to spreadsheets to manage their fleets."

Briggs explained that it was not just a matter of it being difficult to gather and analyse information about fleet costs using a spreadsheet – but also taking control in key areas such as risk management and environmental impact.

He said: "Spreadsheets, no matter how well they are used, will not help fleet managers to do everything that is needed when it comes to tackling the key issues crying out for attention on their fleet right now – pressure on costs, corporate manslaughter issues and environmental concerns.

"Really, the only way to do this for any organisation that has a fleet numbered in three figures or more is to adopt some form of specialist fleet software. Only by doing this can you put in place measures to gather the data that you need to build up an accurate picture of what is happening on your fleet and then formulate effective policies to take control in key areas, including cost.

"This approach is at the heart of best practice fleet management in 2010."

Briggs added that those outside of the fleet software sector were often surprised at the widespread use of spreadsheets by fleet managers.

He said: "In the small-medium fleet sectors, our competitors are often not other fleet software companies but spreadsheets. When we talk to these organisations, it is about convincing them of the need for specialist software.

"Over a period of time, however, it is a conversation that we are having less and less as more fleet managers come to this realisation by themselves."