8 Mar 2023

Defining your fleet mission

Journey to Carbon Zero - Step Two - Your Fleet Mission

Understanding the fundamental purpose of your fleet and how it is being used is the next step. Every fleet manager or business owner will want to achieve full utilisation of their vehicles, however this is not always possible. Business vehicles need to be fit for purpose for the job that needs to be done. Here are some questions to ask your business when you are reviewing how your vehicles are being used:

What roles do your vehicles play in your business and what do they need to do? 

  • Do you need them to transport staff to and from home and work, or from one company location to another
  • What is the average drive time-distance per day and does it suit a BEV or will a PHEV or HEV be a better fit
  • Does your team visit customers across cities and deliver products locally or regionally?

How do you achieve the outcomes you need and your emissions goals most efficiently?


You can assess the best mix of mobility solutions and consider

  • If your business needs personally assigned company vehicles
  • If a pool vehicle fleet would work better in certain locations
  • If your staff are using taxis, Ubers and subsidised public transport to get around and what impact that has on cost and emissions

The best way to analyse your fleet and how it's travelling is through telematics (GPS) data.

This allows you to understand:

  • how your drivers are driving to and from locations of work
  • how they are planning their routes
  • what mix of pool fleet versus permanently allocated company vehicles you may want
  • how to review your existing vehicle policy and the impact of remote working on your fleet utilisation.

If you don’t have GPS tracking data, then you can estimate daily range requirements based on odometer readings or fuel card data.

You should look at vehicle inclusions within employment contracts. This might help you understand what policy changes can be accommodated and that these changes don’t overwrite existing contract clauses.

Once there is the understanding of current state, you can design a future state that supports your carbon strategy, within the timeframes you have set. This involves determining which vehicles can be transitioned to zero-emission now. Pool vehicle fleets are generally good candidates for zero emission vehicles, because they can be charged at the office site overnight.

What about vehicles that are not suitable to move to low emission? For example, currently there are no lower CO2 emitting utes in the market and many businesses need utes to run their business. For those vehicles, businesses could choose to offset the emissions and then sign-write their vehicle with something like, “I can’t be an EV, so we’ve planted a tree”. Your fleet transformation plan might also include options like greater use of Uber or public transport.

For further help on your carbon strategy, download our 5 Step Journey to Carbon Journey eBook here. Our program gives you an overview of all the things you need to consider and a pathway to get started.