Managing a large fleet of pool cars used by multiple drivers for business and personal use can be a challenge for any experienced fleet manager. And when you’re a charity organisation trying to minimise costs and maximise utilisation at the same time, it becomes even more challenging

That was the situation faced by yourtown chief financial officer Preya Pillay who turned to Toyota Fleet Management (TFM) for a solution with its ForceField Telematics platform.

“We had more than 100 pool vehicles located across five states so we needed accurate fleet data and greater transparency over who was using what vehicles, where and when,” Ms Pillay said.

“Our staff are able to use the vehicles for personal use so we were looking to minimise our fringe benefits tax liabilities and also improve driver safety by identifying at risk drivers and providing them with appropriate training,” she said.

yourtown is a trusted provider of services for young people, with a focus on mental health and wellbeing, long-term unemployment, prevention of youth suicide, child protection, as well as support for those experiencing domestic and family violence.

The organisation’s fleet largely comprises passenger cars in a large vehicle pool that is used by employees for both business and personal use, so accurate data on fleet utilisation was imperative for FBT reporting.

ForceField Telematics solutions offer more than just data

“ForceField Telematics introduced the ability for yourtown staff to swipe on at the beginning of each trip, enabling us to accurately and consistently identify the driver of pool vehicles. This solved a number of problems we had at the time, including identifying drivers to nominate infringements and allowing drivers to complete logbooks for FBT purposes,” Ms Pillay said.

Given the sensitivity of the work the organisation’s staff undertake, yourtown was also able to effectively use a unique feature of the platform called Dark Zones. This feature allowed yourtown to geofence sensitive locations and mask trip information to protect the location and identity of at-risk clients and staff.

The ForceField Telematics platform is part of an integrated Toyota Fleet Management solution that is able to provide yourtown with more than just data. The ForceField Telematics platform provides valuable insights that enable further recommendations to improve both their fleet efficiency and fleet safety.

Telematics implementation support at all levels

To implement the new ForceField Telematics system, TFM’s Connected Mobility team worked closely with the team at yourtown to consider not only the logistics of uninstalling the existing kits and installing the new platform, but also internal policy and process changes, staff training and other key change management activities.

One of the biggest challenges in implementing the new system was replacing the existing telematics devices for over 130 vehicles, spread over 5 states and dozens of locations.

Benefits include improved cash flow (no deposit), choice of lease term, predictable monthly payments, one monthly invoice (no matter how many vehicles) and in-depth reporting on the performance of your fleet vehicles. You can spend your time running your business rather than getting involved with vehicle management.

“We worked closely with each site and TFM’s technicians to schedule 1-hour appointments. This was even more challenging as most of the vehicles were pool cars, shared by staff with varying schedules.” Ms Pillay said.

“But through the strength of the partnership with TFM, we were able to successfully retrofit over 130 vehicles across 5 states with TFM’s Telematics solution within a month.”

Fleet telematics delivers benefits for all

From a business perspective, the implementation of Forcefield Telematics has enabled yourtown to:

• Minimise its FBT liabilities
• Effectively identify its under-utilised vehicles
• Deliver an improvement in driver behaviour and,
• Improve its fleet safety across the board.

Ms Pillay said that the introduction of the new telematics system was widely accepted by drivers and management, with all employees understanding that identifying and allocating trips effectively was in the organisation’s interest, minimising costs.

“We found TFM’s ForceField Telematics solution was comprehensive and ticked all the boxes we were looking for. Having the product supported by Toyota Fleet Management on a broader basis was a bonus, giving us a single point of contact from a support and billing perspective,” she said.

If your company is considering investing in fleet telematics to improve efficiency and cut down on costs, contact the team at Toyota Fleet Management.