Study: Corporate Interest in Fleet Environmental Performance Grows, Best Practices Lag

15 July 2008

A recent survey by PHH Arval of public and private sector fleet managers in the US on the subject of the environment found that while corporate interest in the environment grows, few companies are using best practices when setting environmental goals for their fleets.

Asked to rate how their organizations’ interest in the environment has changed over the past year, 80% of the surveyed fleet managers reported that interest in their fleets’ environmental impact continues to grow at their organizations, up slightly from last year (77%). However, almost 15% of private sector fleet managers said the environmental impact of their fleets is not a priority at their organization.

PHH has found that a key best practice for environmental effectiveness is to set greenhouse gas (GHG) goals for fleet performance. A GHG goal allows fleet managers to track improvements in fuel efficiency, account for the impact of business changes on emissions, and assess the impact of driver behavior programs. However, according to the PHH survey, only 25% of survey respondents have GHG goals for their fleets.

In addition, the PHH survey found that most companies do not measure greenhouse emissions from their fleets—only 28% of the respondents said they were doing so. Measurement is a key best practice for being able to monitor and report on improvement over time.

PHH said that the most encouraging finding from the survey is that more than a third of fleet managers are finding ways to save money while reducing fleet emissions (37% in the private sector and 39% in the public sector). For remaining private sector companies, 50% continue to view cost as an obstacle, but this is down from last year’s survey. In the public sector, the concern about cost has remained relatively flat.

The PHH environmental survey found that lack of data to make good environmental choices is an issue for a number of organizations, particularly in the private sector—21% private sector vs. 17% public sector.

Most fleet managers (68%) reported they have started to educate drivers about their impact on the environment. While the majority of fleet managers have communicated to drivers about their ability to reduce the environmental impact of their company-provided vehicles, public sector fleet managers are way ahead of their private sector counterparts. Currently 42% of all private sector fleet managers are not doing any communications to their drivers around the role they play in fleet emissions.

PHH Arval, a subsidiary of PHH Corporation, is a leading fleet management services provider in the United States and Canada. PHH Arval provides outsourced fleet management solutions to corporate clients, including nearly one-third of the Fortune 500 companies.