Fleet managers should secure training budgets now to ensure they develop the necessary expertise for the year ahead, says the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
Announcing the 2026 AFP Fleet Academy programme, Paul Hollick, chair of the industry body, said its members were more aware than ever of the need to enhance their skill set to meet ever-wider remits.
“Demand for training has risen from 520 days in 2024 to 590 this year, with more expected to be delivered in 2026. This is a result of the need for fleet managers and their teams to excel in a growing range of areas as their roles continue to evolve and expand.
“As we launch our new training programme, it’s a good moment to remind industry professionals that a structured approach to securing budget may be necessary. We suggest members plan their training requirements now and take steps to ensure the development they need is fully funded.”
Ronnie Gillman, AFP training manager, said courses were based around two main pillars. The Fleet Vehicle Management pathway offered structured development for everyone working in the sector looking to gain knowledge and competencies in a range of fleet roles, while Accelerate courses covered specific topics and soft skills.
“As the role of fleet manager continues to advance, there is a growing need for a wider range of high-quality courses to equip those working in fleet with the necessary abilities and we have worked to meet that demand in our 2026 programme.
“It’s not just about more training but more options. For example, an exciting innovation for next year will be the introduction of a range of ‘bite sized’ courses designed to deliver maximum impact in minimum time. We’ll be releasing more details about these soon.”
The entry point to the AFP Fleet Vehicle Management pathway is the Introductory course, a self-paced online option for those new to the industry that can be started anytime. The two-day, face-to-face Foundation course is designed for those in fleet administration and customer service roles and is being held next year on 17-18 March, 12-13 May and 6-7 October. Strategic level is aimed at those involved in the coordination and management of fleets, and consists of three separate two-day face-to-face or online sessions, normally taking a year to complete. Cohort 12 starts on 3-4 February, Cohort 13 on 6-7 May; and Cohort 14 on 14-15 October. The Advanced Fleet Vehicle Management course, for experienced fleet leaders, is held on demand.
The AFP Accelerate courses for 2026 include Your Voice in Fleet, taking place on 23–24 June. Women’s Voices in Fleet is set for 10–11 March and 13–14 October. Making the Switch to Electric Vehicles will be delivered online on 13 January, 12 May, 11 August, 13 October, and 8 December. Lastly, Operational eLCV Fleet Strategy will be taking place online on 11 February, 8 April, 10 June, 9 September, and 11 November.
Further details about AFP Fleet Academy courses, including pricing, is available at www.theafp.co.uk/education-training/. A 10% discount on all 2026 face-to-face courses is available to members if payment is made before 30 November 2025.
A new app launched today by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) is designed to provide members with easy access to the organisation’s services.
Highlights include a resource area with useful documents ranging from policy templates to hints and tips on key subjects, and a new chat facility enabling members to ask questions categorised by topic, so they can be searched at a later date.
Developed by BDE Design for the AFP and available for both Apple and Android users, the app also includes an events diary, webinar recordings, AFP Fleet Academy course details and log in, feedback and polls on key fleet subjects, and a member directory. In the future, members be notified of new additions to ensure they stay informed.
Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, said: “Enabling members to interact and access key information easily was the drive behind the app. Wherever users are, whatever they are doing, they can access our services and interact with their peers through the phone in their pocket.
“We have been upgrading our digital infrastructure over the last year, having made a range of enhancements to the AFP web site. The new app is an important element of this strategy and helps members make the most of their membership.
“Considerable time has been spent consulting potential users and refining the design. One of the key strengths of the AFP is our high level of interaction with members and the app will, we believe, help to drive even more engagement. We’re already receiving good feedback.”
The AFP app is available to members at the Apple App Store at https://tinyurl.com/bdfx2h25 and the Google Play Store at https://tinyurl.com/4jp2d8d7.
Faster charging speeds are essential for the wider fleet adoption of electric vans in the future, says the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
Currently, models available from major manufacturers are rated from around 50-125kWh, meaning that even the best will take around 40 minutes to charge from 10-80% in ideal circumstances, and are usually slower in real world conditions.
Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, said: “When it comes to tackling the reasons behind slow fleet adoption of electric vans, prominence has been given to issues of range and payload but there has been limited discussion of charging speeds.
“In fact, as discussed at a recent meeting of our megafleets committee, which consists of our members who operate very large fleets, charging speeds tend to be a bigger real-world frustration. Having a driver sitting around for an hour while their van charges is expensive.
“If vans were capable of faster charging then, to a significant extent, other issues affecting them tend to become more manageable. For example, the negative impact of higher payloads on range becomes less important if you can recharge to 80% every 125 miles in 15 minutes.”
Paul said there was a perception among AFP members that vans were being built with slower charging capabilities because manufacturers believed achieving the lowest possible purchase price was crucial.
“This misconception is understandable. However, the message that we are hearing from our members is that they would be willing to pay more for faster charging capacity. Over a typical six-year fleet lifecycle, the additional cost of a rapid charging van would be more than outweighed by increasing the availability of the driver.
“There is no doubt that available van charging speeds now lag far behind typical electric cars and we believe that many more fleet operators would be won over to electric vans if an 80% charge was achievable in 10-15 minutes.”
He added it was also important to ensure drivers were accessing charge points capable of matching the highest speed of the vehicle.
“If the van can charge to 150kWh, fleets need to get as close to this figure as possible from the public charger. Too often, drivers are charging at 50kWh because of the high number of other vehicles tethered.”
Paul said that a further boost to electric van practicality could be delivered soon by the removal of some compliance requirements for 4.25 tonne electric vans.
“As has been widely reported, the government is working its way through the technical issues in this area and we hope to see progress soon on eliminating what we consider unnecessary tachograph, driver hours and MOT requirements.”
AFP members were very aware, he added, that the ZEV Mandate was now rapidly ramping up sales targets for electric vans, reaching 24% in 2026.
“Sales continue to lag some way behind the government targets but manufacturers are going to come under increasing pressure to push electric vans onto fleets. The point in time when most operators can no longer ignore electrification and carry on buying diesel is coming soon.
“With that moment approaching, we’d like to see a greater understanding between manufacturers, fleets and government about the practicalities of electric van adoption, something we have been working on via the Van Plan created alongside the BVRLA and others. Rapid charging speeds and friction-free use of 4.25t models are examples of this.
“Also, it’s sadly true that many of the electric vans introduced so far have proven unreliable in day-to-day use, sometimes because of faults that should’ve been recognised at the design stage. We need more effectiveness from the next generation of models.”
Fleet drivers need guidance to correctly use advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) or risk the technology being counterproductive, says the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
Members of the industry body are reporting the devices – including automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist and adaptive cruise control – can lead to a problematic “lazy” style of driving and an overreliance on the technology.
Lorna McAtear, AFP vice chair and head of fleet at National Grid said her experience showed ADAS was often being used incorrectly by drivers.
“We are potentially deskilling drivers by encouraging them to rely on ADAS but this is a misunderstanding of how the technology is intended to work. It is designed to act as a limited driving aid or an emergency safety net, not to take responsibility for aspects of driving.
“Increasingly, we are seeing situations where the driver blames the car for errors that caused accidents – arguing either the technology should have stopped the incident or indeed, that ADAS actively caused it. Sometimes, of course, this is just shifting the blame but in other cases, the driver appears to have completely misunderstood how the devices operate.
“A key issue is that ADAS works differently from car to car. Adaptive cruise control, for example, is implemented in distinct ways by each manufacturer, while the degree of pressure on the steering wheel applied by lane departure ranges from gentle to genuinely aggressive. Drivers understandably find this confusing.”
Aaron Powell, AFP board member and director of fleet and logistics at Speedy Hire, said there were question marks over whether ADAS was working in the real world as intended.
“We have seen an increase in car accidents and believe the new technology is playing a role in this trend. It’s important to qualify this statement by saying the rise is more often in less serious incidents – such as car park manoeuvring – but they are more numerous and every accident is time consuming and expensive to deal with from a fleet point of view.
“In our opinion, these low speed collisions especially are occurring because ADAS makes some drivers lazy. Driving is seen as less of a proactive skill and more as something that is secondary to a series of devices that will automatically keep them safe.”
Lorna said that with the fitting of a range of ADAS devices mandated on new cars – and more to come in 2026 – it was difficult for fleets to make criticisms.
“It’s very difficult to push back against the introduction of safety technology. Safety and technology are both seen as positives, so to argue they might not be working as planned is a controversial point to make, but we think there are problems.
“Especially if you have been correctly taught to drive defensively with a high degree of anticipation, these devices tend towards the problematic. Most intervene very late during situations and a jerkiness is imposed on your driving style, which is not desirable. Also, the interventions are quite frequently incorrect.
“It’s common, for example, to have automatic emergency braking slam the brakes on for no apparent reason. Now, research shows that this device is effective at reducing rear end collisions, but false positives do little to inspire confidence and can be quite disturbing, especially if you have another vehicle close behind.”
Aaron said Speedy were in the process of creating a range of training videos designed to underline the fundamentals of safe driving.
“We’re reacting to the issues we perceive with the technology by taking a ‘back to basics’ approach that reminds drivers the responsibility for safe driving on the road is theirs.”
Lorna added: “There’s no doubt some of this technology is useful and effective but we need to develop a greater understanding of how to help drivers integrate it into their existing driving style. ADAS has been introduced with limited guidance about how those who created it thought it should be used in everyday driving.”
Support for the used electric vehicle (EV) market is the number one aspiration from November’s Budget for the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
Chair Paul Hollick pointed out that new electric car grants introduced in July had been relatively successful in stimulating retail interest – and a similar move could play an essential role in the second-hand sector.
“While the scheme has not been perfect, it appears to be helping make new electric cars more accessible through both direct grants and widespread, substantial discounting being prompted by increased competition.
“Really, we’d like to see a corresponding initiative for the used sector. While values for second hand EVs have stabilised and the era of large month-on-month drops appears to thankfully be over, consumer interest is still variable and residual values remain simply too low.
“Some form of support that helps to stimulate buyer enthusiasm – which could be anything from direct grants to interest-free loans – would be very well received by fleets.”
Paul said that other EV measures the AFP would like to see in the Budget included scrapping VED for electric cars and vans.
“The increases for electric cars that took effect from April have added quite heavily to their running costs and created a disincentive, while the introduction of VED for electric vans has been counterproductive in a market that is struggling to find its feet.
“We’d also like to see more support for kerbside charging. It appears a relatively cheap and effective solution for people living in terraced houses or apartments has now been identified in the shape of cable gullies, and there should be a commitment to a much wider implementation than the £25 million already allocated.
“There is also a need to encourage more ‘destination’ charging at hotels and other facilities which, according to feedback from our members, is a hole in current network provision that is becoming increasingly apparent over time.
“Additionally, for EVs, we’d like to see a reintroduction of charging infrastructure grants for businesses. Deadlines for the government’s earlier scheme made it next to impossible for those interested in applying to access the fund – something that caused consternation among fleets – so it is presumably unallocated and still potentially available.”
Finally, he added that an ongoing complaint within the AFP was that potholes remained an issue, often causing damage to company cars and vans.
“This was a problem recognised in the last Budget with an extra £500 million allocated but identifying where this money is being spent is difficult because the condition of our roads doesn’t appear to be noticeably improving. We’d like to see more visible progress.”
Paul suggested that the Chancellor also consider measures from the AFP’s 2024 Tax and Regulation Manifesto, noting the government has already implemented some of its proposals.
“They’ve now been in power for just over a year and we do believe this is a government that often listens to fleets and the wider motor industry, taking action such as the recent split level AER rates. However, there is a shortage of money to spend and many of the issues that we’d like to see resolved require both funding and time.”
Chris Demetriou has been appointed to the board of the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
The assistant director of corporate fleet, transport and accessible community transport at Islington London Borough Council has been added to the industry body’s 15-strong executive following a member election.
Chris said: “The AFP is an indispensable part of the fleet sector, acting as a unified voice for our industry while also providing training and strategic guidance. It plays a crucial role in raising standards, supporting innovation, and advocating for our needs at a national level.
“The inclusive approach that the organisation represents – bringing together professionals from a wide range of sectors – fosters a collaborative environment that drives positive change right across the UK fleet landscape.
“Having witnessed firsthand the AFP’s impact, I’m honoured and excited to take up this new position. Being appointed director is a proud moment for me and I hope to bring my experience and knowledge to the board, making a meaningful contribution to its missions.”
At Islington London Borough Council, Chris is responsible for more than 550 vehicles and 150 staff, leading projects including the retrofitting and electrification of the local authority’s fleet in line with its 2030 net zero carbon strategy.
On the AFP board, he replaces Lee Jackson, who is standing down. Chris received the most votes of the remaining candidates in the June election that saw Matt Neale And Aaron Powell named to the board.
Paul Hollick, AFP chair, said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome Chris as an AFP director. He is a well-known and active member of the AFP who has impressed with his abilities and enthusiasm. We are sure that he will quickly prove to be an invaluable addition to the board.
“We’d also like to wholeheartedly thank Lee Jackson for his contributions as a director and are pleased to hear that, while he is standing down, he intends to remain an active member of the organisation.”
A new benchmarking survey by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) provides probably the most serious attempt yet to answer the question of how many people are required to manage a fleet.
It includes responses from 118 organisations that together control 118,000 cars, vans and trucks, and the number of full-time employees (FTEs) they employ.
The quantity and types of vehicles each fleet operates, as well as acquisition method, vehicle type and which associated fleet responsibilities are managed in-house, are also covered in the methodology.
Lorna McAtear, vice chair at the AFP, said: “As fleet managers struggle with increased workloads and managing resources, how many people should be managing a fleet is a question that comes up time and time again amongst AFP members, and the information we have compiled indicates why it is so difficult to answer.
“For example, if you look at the responses we have received, fleets with two FTEs in the fleet team range in size from 633 vehicles to 5,300, which is a considerable difference. However, there are good reasons for this variance, with the biggest fleet having a large number of cash allowance drivers.
“There are many other instances of this kind of diversity in our research, serving to illustrate both the significant value of this new data, but at the same time, underlining the difficulty of using it to produce usable benchmarking figures.”
Despite this complexity, credible headline averages have been created. As expected, these show a strong relationship between fleet size and FTEs employed, although there are numerous data points outside of this formulaic relationship that underline the number of factors at play.
Especially, the in-house and outsourcing mix, and vehicle types within the overall fleet, have a strong impact. For this reason, the results are separated by funding method and fleet size, and a weighting is applied to the fleet type – salary sacrifice, cash allowance, company car, LCV and HGV.
For a mega fleet of more than 1,000 vehicles, the average number of FTEs is 5.25 for externally funded fleets and 12.25 for outright purchase. For a large fleet of 500-1,000 vehicles: 3.55 funded and 8.25 outright purchase. For a medium fleet of 100-500 vehicles: 1.32 funded and 1.75 outright purchase. Finally, for small fleet of 100 vehicles or less: 0.83 funded and 1.00 outright purchase. More detailed figures are available to AFP members by downloading the report from the AFP web site.
Lorna said: “It’s important to stress these results are very much a reflection of the 118 fleets who responded to our survey but the figures appear to us to feel broadly representative. Generally, fleets within the AFP that depart significantly from most of these averages have their own particular demands and requirements.”
Working collaboratively could help fleets contain rising vehicle repair costs, a meeting of the Association of Fleet Professionals’ (AFP) Megafleets Committee heard this week.
David Bartlett, head of AA Accident Management, said car and van operators should aim for greater cooperation between all parties with a stake in repair processes, including bodyshops, insurers, brokers, vehicle leasing companies, accident management providers and more.
He said: “The list of cost pressures is long. Some are global – the latest is the recent growth of tariffs on core materials such as steel – and we also continue to see the impact of wars, Covid and Brexit on supply chains. Other issues are more local – rising labour costs, ongoing skills shortages and rapid UK growth in electrification. All of this is happening while the number of repairers has fallen by about two-thirds since 2019, too, affecting capacity.
“However, steps can be taken to create a higher level of control over costs and working collaboratively is probably the most important. If everyone involved in the repair process has a better understanding of mutual needs and challenges, opportunities can be identified to introduce cost control, as well as to increase service standards. It’s all about dialogue.”
David was invited to present to the Megafleets Committee because of growing concerns around repair costs. Especially, AFP members raised the issue of insurers being more likely to declare electric vehicles (EVs) a total write-off because of the shortage of technician skills and concerns around battery handling.
David said: “Part of the collaborative approach is to push back if you are unhappy with what the insurer is doing. If you believe an EV write-off is unfair or inappropriate, gather information and talk to your insurer and broker to see if another, hopefully lower cost, solution can be identified. After all, you are the customer.
“When it comes to EVs, an important point can be to consult your partners about the vehicles you are acquiring. There are quite large differences when it comes to parts accessibility and the availability of repair skills, and these can have an impact on not just repair costs but lead times, and the days or weeks spent in the bodyshop.”
Technology was another potential solution to controlling repair costs, he added, through the adoption of both well-established and cutting-edge products.
“Dashcams and telematics aid understanding of accidents and fleets that aren’t using them should doubtless consider doing so but you can also use artificial intelligence to gather information from drivers. Instead of a standard online incident form, a more advanced approach means each subsequent question builds on the driver’s previous response. It makes effective gathering of appropriate data easier and allows us to triage the repair.”
Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, said: “The Megafleets Committee represents our very largest operators and several of them have been highlighting the issue of rising repair costs in recent months. It’s an area of fleet where expenditure seemed to start to rise following the pandemic and, while increases have slowed, has not really plateaued since.
“Hearing guidance from experts such as David provides new ideas on controlling these costs, and the committee is an important forum for AFP members to share ideas that are proving effective. As ever, being part of our association allows fleet managers to access the latest, most innovative thinking in all areas of our industry.”
Fleets need a “Plan B” to cover how they will react if critical services are withdrawn, says the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, said there was a need to consider contingencies that addressed potential issues including supplier failures or sudden changes in their corporate strategy.
“This is something that has become more pertinent for fleets as a result of several high-profile developments over recent years and arguably, is becoming more of a problem.
“Currently, several members are affected by the decisions of BP Business Chargers and JustPark to withdraw from the charging solutions sector. Those businesses are financially sound, of course, but there is also the possibility of companies going under, as we’ve seen with cases such as Prohire, Rivus and Newtown Vehicle Rentals.
“These situations can cause immediate and ongoing disruption to essential fleet services. For example, rental vehicles may be recovered without notice, leaving drivers and goods without transport – or risk management may be affected because of the removal of access to service, maintenance and repair providers.”
Fleets could find themselves looking for new suppliers for critical services in a limited timeframe, he said, creating substantial pressure and meaning important procurement decisions were made in less-than-ideal circumstances, often leading to longer-term issues.
“This is really where the need for contingency planning is most apparent. If a dozen drivers are calling you simultaneously because garages won’t release vehicles that have been serviced under a maintenance provider that just called in the receivers, it’s very useful to be able to reach for a structured document designed to handle such a situation.
“We’re finding our members are increasingly interested in creating a formal ‘Plan B’ of this type to cover key services, including everything from short-term measures that keep your fleet safe and mobile, through to maintaining relationships with suppliers who could deliver an alternative provision. It’s not a huge task when integrated into your day-to-day fleet management but could prove a godsend if an issue arises.”
Paul said that, as ever, being part of the AFP was highly beneficial in terms of researching financial or strategic issues affecting suppliers.
“Any competent fleet manager will have attempted to pre-empt issues of this type by thoroughly assessing supplier viability before signing any contracts. However, even businesses that pass these tests can fail and anyway, it is much more difficult to anticipate the kind of strategic decisions that see suppliers withdraw from providing fleet services.
“This is where the AFP has a role to play. It can be invaluable to spend time talking to other members about their experiences with a supplier you are considering partnering. One of the key functions of the association is the sharing of information and our members have often identified issues with a supplier before they formally go into receivership or make big shifts in corporate strategy. It’s relatively rare these developments come as a surprise to us.”
A new government consultation on the adoption of driverless passenger vehicles announced this week is likely to have wide-ranging implications for the future of fleet risk management, says the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
The consultation covers taxis, buses and other passenger carrying vehicles, and is planned to lead to limited trials next year ahead of a wider implementation as part of the Automated Vehicles Act in 2027.
Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, said: “Relatively few of our members are involved in operating passenger carrying vehicles but this consultation will still be of huge interest because it represents the first wave of driverless vehicle adoption in the UK, something which will probably have repercussions for all vehicle operators in the future.
“The scope of the exercise is quite wide ranging, looking at what the consultation describes as the challenges and benefits of driverless vehicles. Its outcome and the subsequent trials could directly impact on whether, for example, these vehicles must always be used with a remote safety driver or allowed to operate entirely autonomously.
“Issues such as this will in the medium-term probably have significant ramifications for our members in both operational and risk management respects.”
The consultation could help to establish general guidelines that affect all fleets in the future, he said.
“This is technology that has potential applications for everyone from panel van to benefit car fleets and the phase we are now entering will probably determine core expectations about safety, competence and utility. It could well define some important baselines.
“There are very big questions to be answered from a fleet risk point of view, that we may now start to see resolved. At the most fundamental level, fleets will want to know whether it is safe to put employees in driverless vehicles, how it affects the risk of injury to them and to other road users, and how their insurers will view its adoption?”
Paul said it was important to remember the consultation was not about the actual safety of specific driverless vehicles. Instead, this was a factor already included in the Automated Vehicles Act, requiring self-driving vehicles to achieve a level of safety that matched competent and careful human drivers.
“We hear a wide range of views from across the AFP about this technology and are sure that our members will make submissions. Some are excited about its potential and keen to try it out. Others point to poor experiences with current semi-autonomous driving systems on their existing fleet and are extremely sceptical.
“However, the government announcement expresses a high degree of confidence following test programmes that have been taking place since 2015 and, with trials now only a year away, we should start to build up a detailed picture quite quickly.”
The consultation is open until 28th September 2025 and fleets can give their views online at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/automated-passenger-services-permitting-scheme/automated-passenger-services-aps-permitting-scheme-consultation.