Fleet Management and Operations

Mercury provides consulting services to public and private organizations with fleets ranging from broad-based reviews of management practices, to tightly focused analyses of a single issue or opportunity such as "Can we reduce the size of our fleet?" "Should we replace our fleet management information system?" "How can we reduce our maintenance and repair expenditures?" "Is our fleet operation cost competitive?" and "Should we lease or buy vehicles?"

Key consulting services we offer include:

• Performance reviews and competitiveness assessments

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  It's easy to underestimate just how complicated it is to manage your organization's fleet of vehicles. It's also hard to appreciate the full impact that a well-run fleet operation can have on your bottom line and on your meeting business goals.

  Mercury has assisted numerous organizations understand how well their fleet operations have performed. We can determine whether your costs, service levels, and fleet productivity compare favorably with those of competitors and of similar organizations. We can also determine if you could be running any parts of the fleet more efficiently or economically.

  The Process of Assessment
  Mercury's Performance Review and Competitive Assessment addresses every facet of your fleet operations. We don't limit our analysis to the most obvious and easily understood practices. We ask the right questions at every level. We compile the relevant information and statistics, and we benchmark them against applicable industry norms and against realistic standards for you.

  Staffing: to ascertain if your fleet team members are properly trained and deployed, so that their work brings you the greatest value.

  Processes and Practices: to find if decentralization or confusion over responsibilities and charge-backs hamper your ability to manage the fleet efficiently.

  Costs and Budgets: to determine if you're investing too much or too little in vehicle acquisition or leasing, fuel, parts, maintenance, driver reimbursement, facilities, or vehicle disposal.

  Information Systems: to assess your MIS environment and find if it provides relevant, actionable reports and metrics that matter.

  Regulations and Safety: to let you know if your drivers are properly trained and your fleet equipped in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

  The Result You Can Expect
  Mercury delivers understandable, defensible findings and practical recommendations on managing the size, composition, and operation of your fleet. Our goal is always to bring you savings and productivity gains that far exceed the cost of our work.

• Program consolidation and organizational restructuring studies
• Operational best practices design and implementation
• Outsourcing feasibility studies

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  Outsourcing all or part of your fleet operation to a third party could be one of the smartest decisions you make. It could bring better service, lower costs, and greater satisfaction from your fleet users.

  However, all organizations do not benefit from an outsourcing relationship, and although some of your fleet management functions may be good candidates to be outsourced, some responsibilities should remain within your organization.

  Answering the Outsourcing Question
  Can you get better service for the same costs, or comparable service at a lower cost? That's the essential outsourcing question. To answer it, you first need to know all of the costs of your fleet operation. You also need to know how efficiently you're managing the fleet today.

  Mercury's Outsourcing Feasibility Study will analyze all functional areas of your fleet management operation. We will develop cost and service level metrics that give you the full perspective on what you're paying and what you should expect to receive for your investment.

  Our study will enable you to compare your present costs and service levels with those promised by potential outsourcing providers. You can then determine the course of action that's best for you.

  Mercury's Outsourcing Feasibility Study also includes:

  • General operations review and pre-outsourcing cost reduction strategies
  • Identification of hidden costs such as acquisition, vendor performance monitoring, legal, IT – the costs and responsibilities that don't go away when you outsource
  • Pinpointing the logistical and contractual pitfalls that could result in unforeseen charges, financial liability, and unacceptable service

  Mercury has helped numerous organizations of all types in designing, implementing, and overseeing solid, mutually beneficial outsourcing programs for their vehicle and equipment fleets. We have also helped many others come to understand that outsourcing is not the best option for them.

  If you are considering an outsourcing relationship or you are currently outsourcing your operations, put Mercury's many years of experience to work for you!

• Development of requests for proposals for contractual services

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  After you have decided to outsource one or more of your fleet management operation's functions to a third party, you need to:

  • Choose a contractor or vendor who is fully capable of performing the function better, faster, and cheaper than you can do it in-house; and
  • Set clear expectations and enforceable standards of performance for the firm that wins the work.

  Mercury's consultants have assisted many vehicle and equipment management organizations in both the government and private sectors in launching and managing outsourcing programs.

  Because Mercury is an independent consulting firm and not an outsourcing provider, we are ideally positioned to help you attract a field of capable, motivated bidders. We also offer objective and unbiased evaluations of potential outsourcing contractors' capabilities, and the likelihood that the bidder is a good match for you.

  Mercury's services in this area include:

  • Draw up specification for the submission of proposals and bids
  • Develop performance standards for services to be procured
  • Secure and evaluate supplier offers
  • Interview bidding contractors
  • Evaluate contractors' capabilities to perform as required
  • References checks
  • Contract negotiation

  Entering and outsourcing relationship without expert advice may lead you to select the wrong outsourcing vendor or to work under a poorly designed Service Level Agreement (SLA). The ensuing logistical and contractual pitfalls would likely result in unacceptable service levels, unanticipated financial charges, diminished customer satisfaction, and much of your time spent on damage control.

  With Mercury's assistance, you can establish the rules of outsourcing engagement before you enter a relationship with a vendor or contractor. We also help ensure that the winning bidder knows exactly what is expected, and the consequences of failing to meet the performance standards that your fleet organization and its users deserve.

• Contractor selection, contract negotiation, and contractor performance reviews

For more information on our consulting services and business solutions, please contact us via our online form, by email at , or by phone at 301.519.0535.