Exclusive Industry Survey OF FLEET MANAGERS
Transcript of Exclusive Industry Survey OF FLEET MANAGERS
Fleet manager responsibilities are increasing, and many of today’s commercial � eet managers are no
longer tactical, day-to-day employees. Commenting on this sea change, one
� eet manager said, “the [� eet manager] job is truly being recognized as more of a strategic position, with a tremendous opportunity to impact bottom-line re-sults, as opposed to operational.”
Validating this assertion, Automo-tive Fleet’s 2008 Biennial Salary Sur-vey found 17 percent of commercial � eet managers earned more than $100,000 per year in 2008 (Chart 1).
Analyzing the higher � eet manag-er pay, one � eet manager said, “I think organizations are realizing the value of experienced � eet managers and are compensating them accordingly. Ad-ditionally, many managers have held their positions for extended periods and have had salary increases result-ing from longevity.”
Assessing from a different perspec-tive, one � eet manager noted, “With a reduction in true, full-time � eet man-agers, the � eet responsibility is being given to experienced, tenured manag-ers in other areas within the business, such as � nance, HR, etc., who may be earning more than $100,000 because of
In 2008, 17 percent of commercial � eet managers earned more than $100,000 per year, 8 percent of which earned more than $120,000. Fleet managers with MBAs
earned an annual median salary of $90,000.
OF FLEET MANAGERSPER YEAR
MANAGERSMANAGERSMANAGERSEARN MORE THAN
By Lauren Fletcher
Chart 1
Salary Breakdown for All Commercial Fleet Managers
Less than $30,000 ............... 1%$30,001-$40,000 ................. 2%$40,001-$50,000 ............... 11%$50,001-$60,000 ............... 12%$60,001-$70,000 ............... 16%$70,001-$80,000 ............... 16%$80,001-$90,000 ............... 14%$90,001-$100,000 ............. 11%$100,001-$120,000 ............. 9%More than $120,000 ............ 8%
Exclusive Industry Survey
Chart 2
Salary Change Overall
No Change ..........................13%
Increase 0-3% ....................47%
Increase 4-6% ....................29%
Increase 7% or more.......................7%
Decrease 0-3% ........................ 2%
Decrease 7% or more ............. 2%
The 2008 Automotive Fleet Biennial Salary Survey found that:
• Only 14 percent of fl eet managers were paid less than $50,000 in 2008.
• Fleet managers with some post-gradu-ate study earned the highest median salary.
• Fleet managers in the Midwest earned the highest median salary.
AT A GLANCE
their current position, not necessarily because of the � eet position.”
In 2008, only 14 percent of � eet managers were paid less than $50,000. Overall, 83 percent of � eet managers surveyed received a pay increase in 2008 (Chart 2).
Of respondents who did not receive an increase, one � eet manager com-mented her company “did not provide pay increases for the � rst time in 99 years.” Another � eet manager spoke of salary freezes in his company over the past two years.
0
5
10
15
20
25
$30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $110,000 $120,000More
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$77,500
$67,500
$77,500
$72,500
$77,500
$97,500
$82,500
$90,000
$87,500
37%
15%
32%
16%
$0K
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$52,500
$67,500
$47,500
$62,500
$77,500
$85,000
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,500
$67,500
$70,000
$72,500
$75,000
$85,000
$75,000
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,500
$62,500
$87,500
$87,500
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Women
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Men
13%
46%
28%
5%5%1%
15%29%
34%
17%
7%
5%
55%
16%
14%
11%
4%2%
59%22%
13%
Chart 6
Compensation Breakdown by Education
■ High School
■ Some College
■ Liberal Arts Degree
■ Business Degree
■ Technical Degree
■ Some Post-Graduate
Study
■ Post-Graduate Degree
■ MBA
■ CAFM
Chart 4
Compensation Breakdown by Number of Vehicles Managed
No. of Vehicles Median Compensation51-150 .......................... $67,500151-300 ........................ $62,500301-500 ........................ $65,000501-1,000 ..................... $67,500More than 1,000 ........... $87,500
0
5
10
15
20
25
$30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $110,000 $120,000More
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$77,50
0
$67,50
0
$77,50
0
$72,50
0
$77,50
0
$97,50
0
$82,50
0
$90,00
0
$87,50
0
37%
15%
32%
16%
$0K
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$52,50
0
$67,50
0
$47,50
0
$62,50
0
$77,50
0
$85,00
0
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,50
0
$67,50
0
$70,00
0
$72,50
0
$75,00
0
$85,00
0
$75,00
0
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,50
0
$62,50
0
$87,50
0
$87,50
0
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Women
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Men
13%
46%
28%
5%5%1%
15%29%
34%
17%
7%
5%
55%
16%
14%
11%
4%2%
59%22%
13%Chart 3
Compensation Breakdown by
People Supervised
■ None ■ 1-2 ■ 3-5 ■ More than 5
ME
DIA
N C
ON
PE
NS
ATIO
NM
ED
IAN
CO
NP
EN
SAT
ION
Chart 5
Percent of Fleet Managers Who
Received a Cost-of-Living
Adjustment in 2008
40%
Four percent of survey respondents reported a decrease in pay in 2008, while 13 percent reported no change.
Numerous Factors Influence PayFleet managers who supervise two
or less staff members receive a median annual salary of $62,500 compared to $87,500 for fleet managers supervising more than three staff members.
The number of vehicles managed also in� uences � eet manager salaries (Chart 4). Fleet managers who over-saw more than 1,000 vehicles report-
ed the highest compensation, a median pay of $87,500.
Education also has an impact on a � eet manager’s salary. The highest paid � eet managers surveyed completed some post-graduate study and received a me-dian income of $97,500 (Chart 6). Fleet managers who received an MBA re-ceived the second-highest median in-come of $90,000.
Fleet managers who worked in the � eet industry for more than 20 years reported the highest median salary of $85,000 (Chart 7).
Fleet managers surveyed general-ly agreed responsibilities would in-crease in 2009 while pay would stay the same. One � eet manager comment-ed her workload would increase “due to the increased number of units to man-age, increased need for more sophis-ticated reporting to help � eld manag-ers reduce � eet costs, reductions in � eet department head counts per ve-hicle, etc.”
Another � eet manager said, “I think there is a great likelihood I will be as-suming additional duties with no addi-tional compensation. Everyone here is just thankful to have a job.”
In contrast, one � eet manager not-
Chart 8
Percent of Fleet Managers Who Receive a Company Car
with Their Position
22%0
5
10
15
20
25
$30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $110,000 $120,000More
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$77,500
$67,500
$77,500
$72,500
$77,500
$97,500
$82,500
$90,000
$87,500
37%
15%
32%
16%
$0K
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$52,500
$67,500
$47,500
$62,500
$77,500
$85,000
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,500
$67,500
$70,000
$72,500
$75,000
$85,000
$75,000
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,500
$62,500
$87,500
$87,500
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Women
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Men
13%
46%
28%
5%5%1%
15%29%
34%
17%
7%
5%
55%
16%
14%
11%
4%2%
59%22%
13%
Chart 9
Compensation Breakdown by Supervising Department
■ Sales ■ Finance/Treasury ■ Personnel/Human Resources
■ General Administration/Management ■ Transportation
■ Purchasing ■ Other
Reporting Department Affects Salary
As far as the department a � eet man-ager reports to, 14 percent of � eet man-agers report to the purchasing department in 2008 and received the highest medi-an salary of $85,000 (Charts 9 and 10), followed by the transportation depart-ment at $75,000 per year, representing 10 percent of surveyed � eet managers. Fleet managers who reported to the sales department reported the lowest median
salary in 2008 at $62,500 (2 percent of � eet managers surveyed).
The study also revealed 22 percent of surveyed � eet managers receive a com-pany car with their position.
A slim majority of � eet managers (55 percent) reported � eet was their only re-sponsibility in 2008 (Chart 12). Typical ad-ditional responsibilities include planning and managing meetings (16 percent), per-sonnel relocation (6 percent), and travel services management (3 percent).
0
5
10
15
20
25
$30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $110,000 $120,000More
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$77,500
$67,500
$77,500
$72,500
$77,500
$97,500
$82,500
$90,000
$87,500
37%
15%
32%
16%
$0K
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$52,50
0
$67,50
0
$47,50
0
$62,50
0
$77,50
0
$85,00
0
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,500
$67,500
$70,000
$72,500
$75,000
$85,000
$75,000
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K$62,500
$62,500
$87,500
$87,500
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Women
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Men
13%
46%
28%
5%5%1%
15%29%
34%
17%
7%
5%
55%
16%
14%
11%
4%2%
59%22%
13%
Chart 7
Compensation Breakdown by Years of Experience in Fleet
■ Less than 1 Year ■ 1-3 Years ■ 4-5 Years ■ 6-10 Years
■ 11-20 Years ■ More than 20 Years
ME
DIA
N C
ON
PE
NS
ATIO
NM
ED
IAN
CO
NP
EN
SAT
ION
Chart 10
To Whom Do Fleet Managers
Report?
General Administration/Management ...................... 29%Finance/Treasury ............... 22%Purchasing ......................... 14%Transportation .................... 10%Sales .................................... 2%Personnel/HumanResources ............................ 1%Other .................................. 22%
ed she “did not envision increased re-sponsibilities as our company has been aggressively outsourcing positions and responsibilities.”
Fifty-nine percent of � eet managers surveyed in 2008 reported they spent 76-100 percent of their time on � eet (Chart 13), followed by 22 percent of � eet man-agers reporting only being able to spend 51-75 percent of their time on � eet man-agement. Nineteen percent of � eet man-agers say they spent less than half their day on � eet management.
Fleet managers in the Midwest re-ported the highest median salary at $77,500 (Chart 15), while � eet man-agers in the East South Central region
reported the lowest median salary at $60,000, followed by the Mountain re-gion at $67,500.
To Find Out MoreAdditional charts and data are
available with the online version of this article at www.automotive-� eet.com/magazine. See the May/June 2009 is-sue of Government Fleet magazine for a breakdown of public sector � eet man-ager salaries. AF
0
5
10
15
20
25
$30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $110,000 $120,000More
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$77,50
0
$67,50
0
$77,50
0
$72,50
0
$77,50
0
$97,50
0
$82,50
0
$90,00
0
$87,50
0
37%
15%
32%
16%
$0K
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$52,50
0
$67,50
0
$47,50
0
$62,50
0
$77,50
0
$85,00
0
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,50
0
$67,50
0
$70,00
0
$72,50
0
$75,00
0
$85,00
0
$75,00
0
$0
$20K
$40K
$60K
$80K
$100K
$62,50
0
$62,50
0
$87,50
0
$87,50
0
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Women
Years of Experiencein Fleet – Men
13%
46%
28%
5%5%1%
15%29%
34%
17%
7%
5%
55%
16%
14%
11%
4%2%
59%22%
13%
Chart 13
Breakdown by Percentage
of Time Spent on Fleet
Management■ Less than 10% ■ 10-25%
■ 26-50% ■ 51-75% ■ 76-100%
WestCentralMidwestNortheastSoutheast
1 2
3
4
5
67
8
9Chart 15
Median Compensation Breakdown by Geographic
Division
1 Pacifi c ........................................$75,0002 Mountain ...................................$67,500 3 West North Central ....................$77,500 4 West South Central ....................$77,5005 East North Central ......................$82,5006 East South Central .....................$60,0007 South Atlantic .............................$70,0008 Middle Atlantic. ..........................$70,0009 New England ..............................$72,500
* Regions based on U.S. Census Regions and Divisions
Chart 12
Breakdown of Responsibilities Other than Fleet Management
* Percentages exceed 100% due to multiple responses.
Only Fleet ...............................55%
Travel Services ........................3%
Planning/Managing Meetings ....16%
Personnel Relocation ...............6%
Other ......................................31%
Chart 14
Breakdown of Main Fleet
Responsibilities
• Develop Fleet Policies and Procedures ............................93%• Develop a Fleet Selector ........72%• Negotiate Pricing with New-Vehicle Manufacturers ..67%• Manage Remarketing of Used-Vehicles........................67%• Develop Annual Budget .........59%• Authorize Preventive Maintenance..........................72%• Negotiate with Fleet Suppliers ...............................70%• Manage Car Rental Program .................................22%• Manage Fleet Management Company ...............................58%• Manage Executive Vehicle Program ....................27%
Chart 11
Percent of Fleet Managers Receiving Performance-Based Compensation Incentives
48%