Fleet Logistics launches new mobility solution for a changing corporate market

Fleet Logistics is beginning the transition from pure fleet management provider to offering new Managed Mobility Solutions to its clients and prospects. Here, CEO Steffen Schick (above) and Senior Product Manager Patrick Averweg explain the thinking behind the move into providing Managed Mobility as a Service (MMaaS).

Q1. Can you explain why you think now is the appropriate time to move into the MMaaS arena?

SS: Many of our clients face an ever-increasing challenge to attract and retain the best talent, and to meet their corporate sustainability targets.

The company car is no longer the most attractive option for every single user group, neither as source of mobility nor as benefit. This is why we are broadening the mobility options we are offering.

In this context, it is important to us that we offer a high degree of flexibility to our clients by combining a growing choice of mobility services and turning them into simple, digital and cost-effective solutions.

This is what we call MMaaS, to differentiate it from MaaS. We have made a conscious choice to not pursue a classic platform approach yet, instead offering digital booking solutions.

Over recent years, we have helped companies implement and develop their mobility strategies. And, especially in the last 12-24 months, it has become clear that the classic mobility offer needs to be developed further – not just for the company car driver but for all employees throughout the company.

Q2 What are the environmental considerations behind the new initiative? Are there other drivers behind it?

SS: Ongoing discussions around environmental sustainability, with both customers and their employees searching for alternative solutions to traditional company car usage, were clear triggers for this initiative. Reconciling the needs of employees with the objectives of employers, while maintaining a high level of flexibility, was another consideration.

Q3. How well placed is Fleet Logistics to be able to offer these new mobility solutions given your position as Europe’s largest independent fleet management provider?

SS: Our clients have actively sought our support in this area. We have always been about finding and bundling the best solutions in the marketplace and turning them into simple solutions.

In all our years in fleet management, we have proven our capabilities in managing fleets many times, and have accompanied our customers with their strategies across Europe by thinking global and acting local.

We have listened carefully to our customers and have created a solution, not to replace our core business, but to expand our service offering to ensure we are meeting all our customers’ needs.

Q4. What products and solutions is Fleet Logistics launching into the MMaaS market? What are their main features and benefits?

PA: MobilityBUDGET, our first new product, provides employees with a tax optimised cash amount which can be used to cover personal multi-modal mobility needs, ranging from personal lease, through shared mobility including rental cars to public transport.

Ideal for customers in countries both with and without tax benefits, MobilityBUDGET can provide a clear, transparent and automated process to optimise internal cash allowance processes or simply offer an alternative to meet the employee's need for alternative mobility.

The entire process is digital with a high portion of flexibility and worldwide freedom of mobility usage – which is an important consideration nowadays. The value-add for employers is twofold: first they can decide on how the tax benefit is split between the user and themselves, and second, they get a good view of users’ mobility needs and preferences.

From an employer’s perspective, MobilityBUDGET is not only an attractive benefit to staff, but it also offers them valuable insights into the aggregated usage of mobility types by their staff.

Q5. Who are the new mobility solutions aimed at? Are they suitable for all employees?

PA: MobilityBUDGET applies to all employees regardless of the company car usage. The employer can implement this solution as an alternative or an addition to a company car, as salary compensation for new hires or for employees receiving a salary increase.

It is an ideal solution for companies with several locations who very often cannot meet the differing local mobility eco-systems.

Q6. Where will the new mobility solutions be available and within what time frame?

PA: We are rolling out MobilityBUDGET in Germany from January 2021, and a second country is scheduled to follow in the second half of the year. The countries of priority are those in which governments provide benefits in terms of taxation, but our service-driven DNA means that, ultimately, we are aiming for Europe-wide availability.

Q7. Do you see the new MMaaS solutions as replacing or supplementing the company car?

PA: Company cars are here to stay and they will remain the key source of mobility for a number of employees. MobilityBUDGET is intended to be an add-on for company drivers or an attractive additional benefit for all staff – and a cost-effective option to increase mobility choice.

Obviously, employers can offer MobilityBUDGET as an alternative to cash compensation or even to company cars for selected user groups.

Q8 What medium or mechanism will you use to deliver the new mobility solutions?

PA:  MobilityBUDGET is web and app-based, providing a full digital customer journey. The usage is self-explanatory as it is built up to guide through the process step by step. We offer the full suite of services ranging from the digital tool itself, through outsourced receipt checking to providing payroll files. We have designed this as a premium service so that it does not incur any incremental costs or make extra work for employers, while still being attractive to employees.

Q9 How does MobilityBUDGET fit within the Global Mobility Solutions (GMS) Unit that Fleet Logistics announced in September?

SS: We set up the GMS unit earlier in the year to help companies develop and implement their fleet and mobility plans, looking at a number of areas including cost effectiveness, sustainability and electrification and, of course, corporate mobility alternatives.

The new unit, which is led by Thibault Alleyn as Head of Global Mobility Solutions, brings together the expertise of the existing consultancy division with the data management and analytical skills of the international reporting team.

MobilityBUDGET is the first mobility product in our new family of mobility offerings which we will grow and develop over the coming months and years to meet the increasingly sophisticated mobility needs of our clients.

If you require any further information or advice on this topic, please contact info@fleetlogistics.com.