Attendees at the 15th Annual Members - Conference of the Institute of Car Fleet Management (ICFM), held at The Honda Institute in Colnbrook on March 11, heard chairman, Roddy Graham outline his vision for the future of the Institute plus presentations on the impact of climate change on the fleet industry under the conference theme 'Drive Less - Achieve More.' Speakers at the event included Colin Challen, Labour MP and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group; Tim Anderson, fleet advice manager at The Energy Saving Trust; Mark Cowling, business development director of CAP; and Don Potts, environmental transport advisor. Alec Stewart OBE, England's most-capped cricketer ever, was the guest after-lunch speaker and hosts, Honda, fielded the TT 130mph outright lap record holder and 13 times TT winner, John McGuiness.
Members and guests heard ICFM chairman, Roddy Graham outline his vision for the Institute: My ultimate vision is to ensure that all individuals with fleet responsibility, either managing a fleet or working within a fleet supplier, have been trained by the ICFM and gained ICFM qualification.
Hand in hand with this objective we need to reach a position where all job advertisements involving a fleet remit, either managing a fleet or working within a fleet supplier, specify the individual should hold an ICFM qualification.
If you cannot get a job these days in procurement without holding relevant qualifications why should you be able to get one in fleet management without relevant qualifications. It does not make sense, especially when the person with overall responsibility is usually in charge of one of the largest assets within an organisation.
Meanwhile deputy chairman, James Langley announced the availability of Introductory and Certificate level programmes in CD-ROM format for the first time, designed to make studying for professional fleet qualifications even easier. He advised: Last year we saw the start of our Diploma programme, a record number of registrations for the fast track learning programme and the qualification of our 200th fast track delegate. He closed by announcing Lynn Fortin of Fortin Services as the first winner of the Peter Moxon Award for Outstanding Training Achievement.
In his keynote speech entitled, Climate Change - The Challenge, Colin Challen advised that the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group considered that the government's target of reducing CO2 emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 was too low. While the UK was the only country in the world to have a Climate Change Bill going through Parliament, to help avoid temperatures rising by more than two degrees Centigrade, CO2 emissions would have to be reduced by 80 per cent or higher. In his opinion, the Stern Report of 2006 had not been ambitious enough in stating that one per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would need to be spent per annum to mitigate the 20 per cent cost to GDP through climate change damage.
Tim Anderson of the Energy Saving Trust drew attention to the fact that those managing fleets of 100 vehicles or more in England were eligible for a free Green Fleet Review. In Scotland, operators of more than 50 vehicles could take advantage of the environmental consultancy. Advice and information on reducing a company's carbon footprint had as important a role to play as new technology and market incentives.
Interestingly, Mark Cowling of CAP, advised that the past three years had seen a rise in average used car values and CAP forecast the three-year rolling trend to continue with hybrid vehicles doing well against petrol and diesel equivalents. Only the residual values of biofuel vehicles would not hold up against the general upward market trends. Fleet operators should therefore not be deterred from adding hybrid vehicles to their fleets for fear of losing more money on resale compared to similar petrol or diesel vehicles.
According to Honda environment manager, John Kingston, the Japanese manufacturer was the first to have set targets of reducing CO2 levels in both its vehicles (ten per cent) and at its manufacturing plants (20 per cent), all by 2010. Honda considered hybrid vehicles the best short to medium-term solution with fuel cell technology the best long-term solution. The hydrogen-powered Honda FLX Clarity would be launched this summer in California, USA and such vehicles should become a practical alternative by 2020.
Rounding off the presentations, Don Potts stated it was not too late for the world to change but time was running out. Neither was it all about CO2 - air quality was equally important with 20,000 respiratory deaths per year in the UK. Up to 130 UK cities are adopting an air quality strategy and 'no go' areas could be created in town centres based on the Swedish model, where only hybrids and biofuel vehicles are allowed in. Change is certainly on the way with congestion charging, workplace parking charges and carbon trading. Carbon offsets also have an important role to play, with the world's forests absorbing 85 per cent of CO2.
