INTERVIEW
From administration to intelligence: How Fleet Operations aims to rewrite the outsourcing rulebook
Richard Hipkiss, MD of Fleet Operations, talks to Simon Harris about the shift to full-service fleet management, the uneven pace of electrification and why data – not just cars – is now the industry’s most valuable asset.
INTERVIEW
From administration to intelligence: How Fleet Operations aims to rewrite the outsourcing rulebook
Richard Hipkiss, MD of Fleet Operations, talks to Simon Harris about the shift to full-service fleet management, the uneven pace of electrification and why data – not just cars – is now the industry’s most valuable asset.
Outsourced fleet management has changed more in the past five years than in the previous 15, according to Richard Hipkiss, managing director of Fleet Operations. Where organisations once handed over specific administrative tasks under a business process outsourcing (BPO) model, they are now looking for a single partner to take on far more of the load – strategy included.
“Certainly in the last five years, there’s been a shift from a more traditional BPO-type process, where an organisation will want to outsource specific fleet-related tasks – specific parts of administration, fleet management and, in some cases, strategy,” Hipkiss explains. “I think organisations now want to move more and more services alongside that.”
Whether a fleet runs through a single leasing company, several leasing companies, or is owned outright, Hipkiss says the underlying demand is the same: a central point of control and a single supplier to place ancillary spend with. “I think we’ve gone from almost a traditional BPO-type business to a full-service fleet management company,” he says. “That has been significant in terms of success, because organisations want to look more and more for that single point of contact – that one-stop shop, if you like.”
That evolution stretches beyond the traditional outsourced element into transactional services such as accident management, maintenance and rental – each of which, Hipkiss argues, reinforces the others. He points to the shift from budgeted to pay-as-you-go maintenance as a case in point: better control over where and when vehicles are repaired, less unplanned downtime and ultimately lower costs.
It’s not about replacing everything that people do with automation and AI. It’s more about AI doing the heavy lifting, and then there’s a service layer on top.
Filling the gaps a leasing company can’t
Asked whether this positions Fleet Operations as something a leasing company’s in-house fleet management arm simply can’t replicate, Hipkiss is direct. A single-source leasing company will typically offer a menu of services alongside the asset itself, he says, but Fleet Operations’ range is broader – including its own in-house risk management products and technology-led services that leasing companies don’t provide.
“That gives a much broader range of services and the ability for a customer to put more services in with a single organisation,” he says. “But from a customer’s perspective, they also get the benefits of outsourcing more and more of the work that traditionally sits within an internal fleet department.”
That outsourcing trend is, in part, a response to a changing – and shrinking – pool of fleet expertise. Hipkiss believes there are fewer dedicated fleet managers than there were a generation ago, even as the technical, commercial side of the role remains essential. What’s changed is the demand placed on the people still doing it.
“More and more fleet managers have been asked to become more strategic within their role, because of the requirements of the fleet – whether that’s a company car fleet, a benefit or a mission-critical commercial fleet,” he says. “There are far more stakeholders involved around fleet now and far more focus on things such as ESG, environmental reporting, targets, cost reduction – all the physical challenges we’ve got and the impact of that on vehicle availability, manufacturer costs and so on.”
The result, he suggests, is a role that has become more strategic almost by necessity – leaving organisations to decide whether they have the internal resource and capability to manage the day-to-day administration and driver support that fleet still demands, or whether they need a partner to take that on.
I suggest that, effectively, many clients are coming because they lack elements of resource or elements of expertise. “Exactly,” Hipkiss agrees.
Electrification: Cars are sorted, vans are another story
On electrification, Hipkiss draws a clear line between the car and van parts of the business. “Today, car policy looks after itself really now with electrification,” he says. “Most organisations have moved to at least an electric-first policy – a lot is mandatory electric drivetrain anyway. We get exceptions for various reasons, but generally, from a car perspective, everyone’s very much advanced on that.”
Light commercial vehicles are a different picture entirely. Some organisations have committed to electrifying their entire van fleet, Hipkiss says, while others are targeting specific pockets of their workforce – particular contracts, geographies, or urban-versus-rural duty cycles – rather than making a wholesale switch. “They’re much further behind the curve in terms of electrification, but then again, so is the rest of the LCV space in general.”
Vans that return to base each night are, in his view, relatively straightforward to electrify, provided the charging infrastructure is in place – something many organisations already have. Home-charging is a bigger sticking point.
“For anyone that is home-charging, we need to look at the cross-section of employees to understand what capability they’ve got for charging,” he says, pointing to solutions such as adjusted work patterns that let drivers top up at public charge points before or after their shift. “It is really dependent on the nature of the vehicle, what it’s doing and the driver’s location.”
Data: From dashboards to live alerts
If the last decade in fleet has had a defining theme, Hipkiss argues it’s data. “Data certainly makes the whole world go round,” he says. “We transact millions and millions of pieces of data into our business and back out again.” That data flows in from customers, vehicles and the wider supply chain, underpinning the platforms and processes Fleet Operations uses to deliver its services – and, on the output side, feeding the management information customers rely on.
What’s changed, he says, is how that information gets used. Organisations are moving away from reliance on static, backward-looking dashboards towards live alerts and notifications. “It’s more about what’s happening now, what do I need to act on, and what does today tell me the future looks like for my fleet – as opposed to what it might have looked like last quarter.” AI and automation now sit behind much of that reporting, he adds, giving customers a live view of their fleet and clarity on what needs their attention.
As Fleet Operations is often the organisation actually carrying out the resulting action – whether that’s on a vehicle or with a driver – much of that visibility becomes reassurance rather than a to-do list. “It may well just be an awareness piece for the customer to say, ‘this is the event, it’s in hand’, as opposed to, ‘this is the event, you need to do something about it’.”
Where AI genuinely moves the needle
Hipkiss is candid about where artificial intelligence delivers real value in fleet management and where the conversation still outpaces the substance. The key question, he says, is whether the tools an organisation already uses to manage its fleet – internal or outsourced – can actually integrate AI, or whether AI ends up bolted on in isolation. “That’s when it becomes a bit of a challenge,” he says.
For third-party providers – fleet software companies, fleet managers or leasing companies – he believes serious investment in AI development is now essential, so that much of today’s manual fleet administration becomes automated tomorrow, including a significant proportion of customer contact. But he’s careful to frame this as augmentation rather than replacement. “It’s not about just replacing everything that people do with automation and AI, because that will become a problem in itself. It’s more about AI doing the heavy lifting, and then there’s a service layer on top – whether that’s a partner organisation such as Fleet Operations, or a strategic in-house fleet manager interpreting what the technology produces.”
Data: From dashboards to live alerts
If the last decade in fleet has had a defining theme, Hipkiss argues it’s data. “Data certainly makes the whole world go round,” he says. “We transact millions and millions of pieces of data into our business and back out again.” That data flows in from customers, vehicles and the wider supply chain, underpinning the platforms and processes Fleet Operations uses to deliver its services – and, on the output side, feeding the management information customers rely on.
What’s changed, he says, is how that information gets used. Organisations are moving away from reliance on static, backward-looking dashboards towards live alerts and notifications. “It’s more about what’s happening now, what do I need to act on, and what does today tell me the future looks like for my fleet – as opposed to what it might have looked like last quarter.” AI and automation now sit behind much of that reporting, he adds, giving customers a live view of their fleet and clarity on what needs their attention.
As Fleet Operations is often the organisation actually carrying out the resulting action – whether that’s on a vehicle or with a driver – much of that visibility becomes reassurance rather than a to-do list. “It may well just be an awareness piece for the customer to say, ‘this is the event, it’s in hand’, as opposed to, ‘this is the event, you need to do something about it’.”
Where AI genuinely moves the needle
Hipkiss is candid about where artificial intelligence delivers real value in fleet management and where the conversation still outpaces the substance. The key question, he says, is whether the tools an organisation already uses to manage its fleet – internal or outsourced – can actually integrate AI, or whether AI ends up bolted on in isolation. “That’s when it becomes a bit of a challenge,” he says.
For third-party providers – fleet software companies, fleet managers or leasing companies – he believes serious investment in AI development is now essential, so that much of today’s manual fleet administration becomes automated tomorrow, including a significant proportion of customer contact. But he’s careful to frame this as augmentation rather than replacement. “It’s not about just replacing everything that people do with automation and AI, because that will become a problem in itself. It’s more about AI doing the heavy lifting, and then there’s a service layer on top – whether that’s a partner organisation such as Fleet Operations, or a strategic in-house fleet manager interpreting what the technology produces.”
Connected data, consolidation and the regulatory blind spot
Looking five years ahead, Hipkiss expects connected vehicle data to move to the centre of the industry, accelerating as newer, more connected vehicles reach the road. “I think the whole sector will be almost a connector between that connected vehicle data, what that data is telling an organisation and what we need to do about it,” he says. Hipkiss expects tech-led providers investing in software, AI and platforms to pull ahead, while more traditional, people-based service providers risk falling behind for lack of early investment.
That data-rich future, however, is running ahead of the regulatory framework built to govern it, in Hipkiss’s view. Access to connected vehicle data is already restricted and he expects rising demand for that data to trigger further restrictions, validation and approval processes around what can be done with it. He points to a need for clearer definition of who has a legitimate claim to a vehicle’s data – the driver, the manufacturer, the customer, a third-party provider, the registered keeper (who may not be the leasing company itself) and the gateway providers that sit between collecting and distributing that data.
“There’s certainly three or four of those roles defined already,” he says. “But are they getting the level of data that’s available? The answer’s no. They’re getting the level of data they need – certainly not more. So the solution and the output is nowhere near where it needs to be because of that.”
What fleets should be asking their suppliers
For fleet decision-makers, Hipkiss’s advice is to push suppliers harder on strategy and investment, not just cost. “I think strategically they need to understand where their organisations are heading,” he says, noting that visibility into where – and why – a supplier is investing is increasingly important. "Those types of solutions are not going to be built overnight in terms of some of the tech, data and AI solutions that are coming.”
His suggestion is for customers to actively ask suppliers how they can get involved – whether through trials, pilot schemes, or supplier steering groups – so they understand both the benefits on offer and any risks they might otherwise miss. “There’s some good organisations, some leasing companies, that operate that kind of steering-group approach,” he says. “I think customers should be asking for more and more of those things.”
Sustainability: Reputation or real decision-driver?
Asked whether sustainability now genuinely shapes procurement decisions, rather than sitting alongside them as a reputational consideration, Hipkiss is unequivocal. “There’s significant weighting now in decision-making processes on sustainability and all the ESG subjects,” he says – covering everything from the sectors an organisation invests in, to the proportion of turnover it puts into AI and technology. “Procurement decisions now, for the next three, four or five years, are going to be hitting some of this technology and data-led solutions head on. Organisations are already factoring – and should be factoring – all those areas into decisions, as much as the traditional cost, service and reputation.”
What fleets should be asking their suppliers
For fleet decision-makers, Hipkiss’s advice is to push suppliers harder on strategy and investment, not just cost. “I think strategically they need to understand where their organisations are heading,” he says, noting that visibility into where – and why – a supplier is investing is increasingly important. "Those types of solutions are not going to be built overnight in terms of some of the tech, data and AI solutions that are coming.”
His suggestion is for customers to actively ask suppliers how they can get involved – whether through trials, pilot schemes, or supplier steering groups – so they understand both the benefits on offer and any risks they might otherwise miss. “There’s some good organisations, some leasing companies, that operate that kind of steering-group approach,” he says. “I think customers should be asking for more and more of those things.”
Sustainability: Reputation or real decision-driver?
Asked whether sustainability now genuinely shapes procurement decisions, rather than sitting alongside them as a reputational consideration, Hipkiss is unequivocal. “There’s significant weighting now in decision-making processes on sustainability and all the ESG subjects,” he says – covering everything from the sectors an organisation invests in, to the proportion of turnover it puts into AI and technology. “Procurement decisions now, for the next three, four or five years, are going to be hitting some of this technology and data-led solutions head on. Organisations are already factoring – and should be factoring – all those areas into decisions, as much as the traditional cost, service and reputation.”
