Michelin Appoints Outsourced Fleet Service Provider

Following a good number of years managing the tyre maker’s in-house vehicle fleet, Michelin’s John Stack recently took the decision to retire. Rather than appointing someone else to take over the role, Michelin chose the outsourcing path and launched a competitive tender process to find a new service provider. This tender was won by Fleet Support Group (FSG), and the Wiltshire based company has now taken over management of Michelin’s 340-strong fleet and begun providing a range of vehicle related services including its occupational road risk management system.

“The decision is in line with Michelin’s policy to outsource all non-core business activity to expert providers,” commented Stack.” I was aware of FSG and its first-class reputation for cost-effective and industry-leading service delivery. The company came out on top in the tender exercise which saw a number of organisations short-listed.” At present Mr. Stack is working as a part-time consultant to Michelin and will continue to do so during the implementation phase of FSG’s outsourced servicing. The fleet service provider says Stack played an “instrumental” role in the associated decision-making process.

Michelin’s fleet includes 230 company cars plus 110 vans, some of which are multi-user vehicles with cash-for-car drivers and occasional drivers. In all, the Stoke-on-Trent headquartered company employs some 540 people who drive on business. FSG services for these vehicles and drivers include its FleetMaster fleet management, ServiceMaster maintenance management, CrashMaster accident management, HireMaster short-term vehicle hire and RiskMaster driver safety and risk assessment programmes. These services are delivered to Michelin with the help of a dedicated account manager and 24×7 driver helpdesk.  “I believe we can bring added value to the Michelin fleet and further enhance the service that drivers have received for many years from John Stack,” commented FSG sales director Marcus Bray.

Over the last five years Michelin has cut its road crash rate by more than 50 per cent and adopted a target of zero incidents after reporting a 46 per cent reduction in accident damage costs and significant savings in indirect costs including vehicle hire and driver time. The tyre maker’s focus on driving safety was recently emphasised when it became the 50th organisation to join the Government-backed Driving for Better Business campaign as a ‘Business Champion’. The purpose of these ‘Business Champions’ is to help promote the implementation of at-work driving safety initiatives to other public and private sector fleets.

FSG is continuing this safety drive with its RiskMaster programme and over the coming months Michelin employees are being issued ‘Permits to Drive’. Company car drivers are the first to receive these permits, followed by light commercial drivers and then occasional drivers. Permits will be issued after drivers have completed their online application and had the validity of their driving licences checked with the DVLA and completed an online driving ‘test’.

Vehicle maintenance records, insurance details, MoT and VED records, as well as any data on a driver’s crashes and motoring offences are also fed into the RiskMaster system and is then supported by regular and automatic uploads from FSG’s operating divisions. As information is supplied into the system, RiskMaster point scores each driver’s data.

This information is used to create an individual and comprehensive ‘Driver Operating Life Report’, from which data is used to continually assess individual drivers in their driving-at-work activity. If a particular driver’s points rise above a preset level determined by Michelin, management is alerted. Based upon his or her performance a driver can qualify for a permit, a temporary permit or even be denied a permit. Interventions are targeted at employees deemed to be most exposed to risk when driving and the information provided by RiskMaster also serves the purpose of ensuring Michelin complies with recommended best practice health and safety procedures. RiskMaster thus continues on from Michelin’s own road risk management programme, a continually evolving initiative that has been developed over the past six years.

“Michelin employees know that road safety is of paramount importance to the company and that it views its drivers as a valuable asset. Driver enrolment in RiskMaster will help Michelin deliver a complete at-work driver safety solution,” John Stack noted.