Shell Fleet Solutions unveils report on the future of fleet management at Global Fleet Conference

At this year’s Global Fleet Conference in Rome (28 to 30 May), Shell Fleet Solutions is unveiling a report on the future of the fleet industry. We spoke with Katya Atanasova, Vice President, Shell Fleet Solutions, who lifted a corner of the veil.

What’s the report about?

In the report, we share insights on the future of our industry based on analysis of our customer base and our own experts. Most importantly, it is based on a survey that we carried out in the autumn of 2017 among 750 fleet professionals across the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland.

Why do you think the report was necessary at this time?

It’s always very useful to refer to not only your own experience but to industry experts. When it comes to the future, there is rarely a uniform view of what it will bring. We live in times of an unprecedented pace of change which is impacting our industry significantly.

Shell has been forecasting and scenario building for decades, it’s one of the hallmarks of our company and we aspire to be at the forefront of thinking about the future and to shape it for the benefit of society.

Can you already give some of the main conclusions from the report?

One of the main conclusions is that the future is not clear. Many industry professionals are excited and optimistic about what the future will bring for their business or their customers’ business. But at the same time and despite this optimism, there is a big gap between that optimism and the readiness of the fleet industry for the change. 40% of the interviewees are saying that they struggle to stay informed and fleet professionals are also seeking support from within their own organisation and amongst drivers for new fuels, technologies and business models.

How can Shell address these issues?

We believe that this report accelerates the discussion, but it is only the beginning and will take a collective approach from fleet operators, public and private sector bodies, technology companies and start-ups to test and evaluate new innovations.  We offer alternative fuels, not only electricity but also hydrogen, natural gas and so on. We can also work together on mobility as a service and of course we have access to a large amount of data about driving behaviour and fleet operations.  The amount of data is constantly growing but what companies are doing with big data is what matters. We see this as a true opportunity to help our customers.

Are there any other conclusions you would like to point out?

One of the many emerging trends identified in the report, is the changing attitude to asset-sharing between fleets. There is potential to see fleet professionals using technology to share loads, manage deliveries on demand and remove the capital and operational costs of owning vehicles themselves.  An interesting example of response to this growth area has seen Shell Ventures invest in tiramizoo, a fast-growing Munich-based company which has created a platform for optimising last-mile deliveries.

Despite being competitors, companies have to work more closely together so they can learn together because the pace of change makes it very difficult for even the biggest players to be sure what comes next. We see many collaboration opportunities and we collectively need to explore the best ways to apply these for drivers, operators and society as a whole.

Image: Katya Atanasova, Vice President, Shell Fleet Solutions