Fleet Selection – Step Guide
Version Control
No Date Comment
1 December 2009 Original version 2 May 2010 Minor word changes
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THE VEHICLE SELECTION
BUSINESS AND POLICY ELEMENTS
An Agency should adopt a holistic approach to the selection of vehicles for inclusion in the fleet. The following selection criteria has been developed to generally cover passenger vehicle selection but can be used in reference to light commercial vehicles.
Operational requirements should be the over-riding consideration in any fleet policy whilst still fulfilling safety, environmental and financial obligations. Consider then the following:
• Business need • Fit-for-Purpose • Safety • Environmental performance • Cost-effective ownership
1. Business need
The initial need should be identified and confirmed by assessing driver usage patterns and expected vehicle capabilities and usage.
The actual “need” for a vehicle is assumed to have already been determined taking into consideration that
• vehicle is “needed’ rather than “wanted” • there are no other transport options
• funds are available to provide for the purchase or lease
• the term and kilometres have been determined and justify a purchase / lease rather than a short term hire
This information is then used to determine the type of vehicle required. A vehicle selection matrix records the vehicle configuration in generic terms.
The actual make and model to be ordered is determined periodically from those available on the NSW Government Contract 653 (supply of motor vehicles), based on an assessment of the dynamic selection criteria ie. Fit-for-purpose, safety, environmental performance and cost-effective ownership.
2. Fit-for-Purpose
Fit-for-purpose vehicle selection is an objective, fact-based approach to assessing the vehicle operational requirements for work groups and job roles including discrimination based on geographic and/or actual working condition considerations.
For non “Pool Vehicles”, vehicles should be allocated to positions or job roles, rather than individuals.
For a particular requirement to be taken into account, it should be based on a task which occupies at least 60% of the vehicle usage. Usage of less than this should be
accommodated by other temporary solutions.
3. Safety
The NSW Government Contract 653 has specified levels of safety for each vehicle category. The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) rating applicable to each model and it’s variations is used in this specification.
This scoring system can be used to determine a vehicle’s comparative safety rating and only those vehicles that equal or exceed the proposed benchmark should be included in a fleet.
4. Environmental Performance
The environmental performance of agency vehicles has two elements – CO2 and NOx. These
scores from the Green Vehicle Guide (Federal Government) establish the NSW
Environmental Performance Scores (EPS) and rate the environmental performance of the make, model and fuel type for available vehicles. These are also specified in Contract 653.
5. Cost-effective Ownership
Vehicles should be selected to optimise savings for whole of life cost of ownership eg. lease terms, maintenance, fuel type or fit-out costs. This criterion will also take account of taxation implications, particularly Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT).
SELECTION PROCESS
After establishing the operational requirements of the vehicle, the generic group should be identified and the selection protocol choices assessed, Remaining selections are then evaluated according to the next criteria until the vehicle category is identifiedand the available vehicles that comply are selected. It is at this stage that manufacturer and model are used in identifying the vehicle.
Personal choice
Personal choice is, and should be, the lowest priority in selecting government fleet vehicles, and should only be taken into account where there is no negative impact on the principles of fit-for-purpose, safety, environmental performance, cost-effective ownership and the public perception of the Agency/Government.
An objective approach to vehicle selection will result in the best match between operational requirements and vehicles.
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Other criteria
From time to time Agency staff will put forward other criteria for the selection of vehicles. In particular, other criteria are offered to justify the selection of larger vehicles, which
undermines the fit-for-purpose intention. Common arguments include;
Country travel
In itself, country travel is no justification for a larger vehicle. Fit-for-purpose selection will take into account off-road conditions, load and passenger requirements.
Speed
The legal maximum speed limit in NSW is 110kph. All Light Motor Vehicle Fleet vehicles are capable of travelling at this speed.
Long distances
The Government Safe Driving policies mandates that drivers manage fatigue through
frequent rest breaks. In practice, no driver or vehicle should be operating for longer than two hours without a break.
The adoption of low-risk attitudes and behaviours will also reduce the possibility of the driver being involved in a driving incident.
Personal comfort
The number of people and volume of luggage required to be transported by a vehicle is taken into account by the fit-for-purpose assessment.
Load carrying
Where load carrying is a requirement, the vehicle should operate in this capacity (as a rule) 60% or more of the time.
Loads can be categorised as Minor (L0/L1) or Major (L2/L3):
Load L0 Personal luggage, small boxes, computers and light items to a total weight of 300kgs
Load L1 Personal luggage, small boxes, computers and light items to a total weight of 600kgs
Load L2 Equipment/Goods over 600kgs in weight
Load L3 Combination (L1) & (L2)
Final Selection
There are considered to be six (6) steps in the process
The six (6) step process makes the assumption that once these steps have been
undertaken, that the Agency Fleet Policy, which may limit the vehicles which can be selected from each “vehicle category” can be used as these selections will have already dealt with Safety, Environment, and Whole of Life Costs, as explained in the supplementary “Fleet Selection – Detailed Guide”.
The six (6) Steps are: 1. initial assessment 2. location of use 3. category of vehicle 4. passenger assessment 5. goods carrying assessment 6. final selection
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Fit for Purpose Table
LOCATION VEHICLE CATEGORIESTYPE CODE City City / Rural Rural Rural/ Offroad Category Code
(LA) (LB) (LC) (LD) Passenger (PASS) Passenger Car Driver Only Dr0Gd0 1 1 2 5 Micro /Small/ Hybrid 1 Driver and 1 Dr1Gd0 1 1 3 5 Medium 2 Driver and 2 Dr2Gd0 1 2 3 6 Large sedan 3 Driver and 3 Dr3Gd0 2 3 3 6 Large Station Wagon 4 Passenger SUV Passenger and Goods Compact 5 Driver and Minor Goods Dr0Gd0 5 4 4 5 Medium 6 Driver, Minor Goods and Dr1 Dr1Gd1 5 4 4 5 Large 7 Driver, Minor Goods and Dr2 Dr1Gd2 4 4 4 6 Passenger People Mover Driver, Minor Goods and Dr3 Dr1Gd3 4 4 4 6 People Mover 8 Light Commercial (LCOMM) Driver and Minor Goods Dr0Gd0 9 9 9 11 Light Commercial Driver, Minor Goods and Dr1 Dr1Gd1 9 9 9 11 Utility 9 Driver, Minor Goods and Dr2 Dr1Gd2 10 10 10 11 Pick Up 4x2 10 Driver, Minor Goods and Dr3 Dr1Gd3 10 10 10 11 Pick Up 4x4 11 Van 12 Light Commercial and Goods Bus 13 Driver and Major Goods Dr0Gd3 12 12 12 11 Driver, Major Goods and Dr1 Dr1Gd3 12 12 12 11 Driver, Major Goods and Dr2 Dr2Gd3 10 10 11 11 Driver, Major Goods and Dr3 Dr3Gd3 10 10 11 11 LOAD DESCRIPTION
Special (SPEC) Description Code
Special fitout 7 7 7 7 Items up to 300kg (minor) Gd0
Fire (non Fire Brigade) 11 11 11 11 Items up to 600kg (minor) Gd2
Driver and 4‐8 Dr4Gd0 8 8 8 ‐ Items over 600kg (major) Gd3
