Fleet Logistics Group CEO, Steffen Schick, looks back on his first six months at the company – a period that has seen most of the world affected by Covid-19, the worst pandemic in living memory. Here are his thoughts on a baptism of fire over recent months.
“This is my first personal message to our clients and prospects at Fleet Logistics Group (FLG) – and what a challenge the last few months have proved to be!”
Steffen said that he had taken the role of CEO at FLG with a clear brief: “I joined with a mandate to help pave the way for FLG to become a leading provider of managed mobility as a service - by leveraging the increasing convergence of the worlds of fleet and travel”.
However, things did not go exactly according to plan!
“Halfway through my first 100 days, the Coronavirus struck Western Europe and the focus quickly went from strategic planning for the future to finding ad hoc solutions to the most pressing issues – such as how we continued to operate in a pandemic that immobilized many countries across Europe and beyond.”
Steffen said that the company and its staff had risen to the challenge with admirable courage, tenacity and ability.
“I am glad to report that changing the operating model for more than 300 staff across Europe to remote working in a matter of days went smoothly.
“The team did a fantastic job in delivering good service to our clients while dealing with adverse conditions, from personal health scares to fighting for bandwidth with working partners and home-schooling pupils,” he said.
And he had a special message to FLG’s many and varied clients and business partners.
“I’d just like to put on record a big ‘thank you’ to our clients who stayed loyal to us during these difficult times.
“I hope that our fleet management services and initiatives like our Health & Care, online driver training, guide to electrification and many others provided you with both practical support and food for thought for your own fleet strategies. If you have not been exposed to these initiatives, this newsletter provides you with more insights,” he said.
Steffen said that many countries were now coming tentatively out of lockdown.
“We seem to have reached the ‘new normal’ in most countries and find a working environment that has changed more than we could have imagined as recently as the beginning of this year.”
However, there were likely to be many new challenges and hurdles to overcome over the coming months, he said.
“Personally, I believe that the changes inflicted by Coronavirus will provide the impetus to challenge a number of existing and established paradigms and bring further innovation and change to the market.
“FLG is getting ready to become a driving force for some of these changes and I am confident that we will once more bring substantial innovations to the market,” he said.
The coming months would see new systems and product development that would be to the benefit of FLG clients and their drivers and would help them operate their fleets more efficiently.
“During the remainder of this year, we will launch our new backbone technology system which better supports our business processes and will increase service quality.
“We will also launch a new and easy-to-use configurator and, lastly, a new driver app to bring greater convenience and services to our clients’ drivers.
“And, in 2021, we will see the launch of our first ‘mobility complete’ product – the first of many that we intend to bring to market. Please stay tuned to find out more,” he concluded.
If you require any further information or advice please contact info@fleetlogistics.com or visit www.fleetlogistics.com