Fleet management is a full-time job, and mostly because it involves managing a lot of costs. And those are costs which can quite easily spiral out of control and have a negative impact on the operation of your business. Managing these costs is something of a balancing act, and something you need to get right. We are not just talking about financing vehicles, but also, insurance, technology and monitoring systems, fuel usage and the management of people’s time in terms of routes taken and late deliveries etc.
There is a lot of data to analyse and costs to weigh up, and once you are past the fundamental question of buy or lease, there are other issues such as tax implications and service and maintenance costs to consider.
Managing your fleet requires innovative thinking, and a big part of that is in finance packages available for funding vehicles. Total Motion can help you manage your fleet in terms of introducing new concepts in finance, and recommending the one that best suits your circumstances. This includes how you acquire, fund and service your fleet, and comes via our unique platform aimed at directly pairing you with a funding package which offers long and short term leases, tailored to your needs and budgets.
So let’s take a look at some of our finance options for your fleet:
Managed funding (Multi Bid Funding)
This is a popular finance product developed in the 1990s, and uses a series of effective procurement principles to reduce lease costs, improve flexibility and control, reduce service and maintenance costs and reduce vehicle downtime. Total Motion can help find suitable finance suppliers and manage service and maintenance separately to save you money. This is enabled by Total Motion’s unique and long-standing relationships with vehicle and finance suppliers.
Find out more about managed funding (multi bid funding).
Asset finance
Here finance is provided to fund the procurement of an asset, ie. in this case a vehicle, without the need to invest large sums of money, which is often a benefit to an organisation which doesn’t have large cash and capital reserves. So you can spread the cost and manage ownership of your fleet, which can be more easily managed in line with other organisational goals and objectives.
Car salary sacrifice and ECO schemes
Total Motion can manage a scheme which is a tax-efficient way to manage vehicles and lower the cost. Employees agree to sacrifice a part of their salary – before tax and national insurance are deducted – to save money on securing a new vehicle. Employee car ownership (ECO) is a scheme where the vehicle is owned by the employee rather than the organisation, this is via the employee being given a monthly salary allowance, which includes car ownership as well as servicing and breakdown cover.
Hybrid leasing
This is similar to contract hire in that the residual value of the vehicle is used to structure payments, in line with how the customer plans to use it. Except there are no mileage restrictions and no early termination penalties. Furthermore, the client will receive 90% of any profit made from disposal of the car at the end of the lease. This is done using Total Motion’s network of contacts in the industry and ensures the client looks after the vehicle, limits its mileage and maintains it well, without restrictions being imposed during the lease.
Find out more about hybrid leasing.
Contract purchase
Contract purchase is aimed at business leases, as clients pay a fixed monthly payment with a view to owning the vehicle, but retain the right to return it at the end of the lease. A final payment figure is agreed at the outset based on the expected value and hence this reduces the risk of depreciation for the client.
Sale and leaseback
This is where a company sells its vehicles to a third party contract hire company, who take ownership of the vehicles and lease them back at an agreed rate and over a set period of time. To the client this becomes a standard lease agreement, but carries less risk of depreciation and puts money into the business.
If you talk to our specialist vehicle leasing experts we are sure to be able to match you with the fleet financing package that suits you. This may be a combination of different products outlined above, but what is important to us is that the outcome works specifically for you. So contact us today and we can set you on the road to effectively managing your fleet and fleet finance.
