Still Doing More with Less

More than a decade ago, I wrote about fleet managers being asked to do more with less. At the time, public organizations were cutting staff, leaving fleet positions unfilled and asking the people who remained to pick up the work.

Fleet managers are still being asked to do more with less. But a few recent conversations have made me wonder if some are less willing to simply absorb more.

The Job Hasn’t Gotten Any Easier

Doing more with less isn’t just about managing more vehicles with fewer technicians. Fleet managers are also expected to understand an ever-expanding range of subjects.

Just as your fleet team gets comfortable with its fleet management information system (FMIS) and all its

features, telematics comes into the picture, bringing even more data to analyze. Then come alternative fuels and electrification, along with new regulations and charging infrastructure to figure out. (I’ve sat through some regulation meetings with fleet managers—they were hard to follow!) Now there’s AI. Many fleet managers I’ve spoken to are still cautious about it, but AI is becoming part of fleet management whether we’re ready for it or not.

And, of course, the traditional responsibilities (maintenance, procurement, replacement planning, budgeting, staffing, customer service, etc.) haven’t disappeared.

There’s always something else fleet managers need to understand, and very little they get to stop understanding.

Consider these situations: There’s new technology to evaluate, and the fleet team takes it on. A new regulation or mandate is instituted, and the fleet manager has to figure out how to implement it. There’s a major fire or hurricane, and the fleet manager may spend weeks supporting emergency response. Another department’s director has retired, and the fleet manager takes on the interim leadership position until the organization recruits a replacement.

Meanwhile, none of the original job goes away. Temporary or small additions to the workload are often absorbed one at a time until the job no longer fits into an eight-hour workday.

When Do You Pull Back?

One fleet manager I spoke with already worked 12-hour days at his fleet job. Then he started doing fleet-related consulting work at night and on weekends to fill a need in the industry. After months without a day off, he finally pulled back when his wife reminded him that their children were grown and this was supposed to be their time.

I also recently connected with a retired fleet manager who spent much of his career working 60-hour weeks, and sometimes more. Looking back, he said one of the things he would change was his quality-of-life balance. He questioned whether all those extra hours made enough of a difference to justify the sacrifices he made.

Another fleet manager I know has young children and has already decided he doesn’t want to work 12-hour days. Moving into a bigger, more demanding public-sector position wasn’t worth the tradeoff. Instead, he found a less stressful role within the fleet industry. One of the differences he notices now: He doesn’t have to miss his kids’ soccer games.

A decade ago, I wrote that people can only run at 110% for so long. Hearing these stories made me wonder how much of yourself you should give to the job—and how much organizations should expect.

Making Things Work

There will always be new things to learn, emergencies to handle and things you add to your plate because you have to or because you want to be a team player. And I think many people like fleet management because it’s challenging and is always evolving. But there has to be a point when adding something new means reconsidering your current responsibilities.

Maybe the answer needs to be: ”OK, this is now on my plate. Given everything else we’re doing, what should I prioritize, and what can wait?”

Fleet managers shouldn’t have to make that decision quietly on their own. If leadership adds something to their plate, leadership should also help decide what comes off or what gets pushed back.