Auck. City Fleet Management Contract To Cardlink

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release November 25 2003

AUCKLAND CITY FLEET MANAGEMENT CONTRACT AWARDED TO CARDLINK SYSTEMS

Auckland City has awarded the contract to manage its fleet of 350 vehicles to the country's largest independent fleet management company, Cardlink Systems.

The contract was awarded following a competitive tender to the market.

Cardlink will utilise its Fleetsmart management system to deliver best practise fleet management to Auckland City.

The key outcomes required by Auckland City include: -

a.. Greater fleet efficiency
b.. Vehicles that are fit for purpose
c.. Management of warranties
d.. Management of vehicle servicing, maintenance and repairs
e.. Provision of expert advice
f.. Smoothing kilometres and vehicle use across the fleet
g.. Identifying rogue or excessively expensive vehicles
h.. Providing a one stop shop for all fleet requirements

Auckland City's Group Manager, Procurement, Mr Tim Munro, says Cardlink was chosen following a "very competitive and close" tender process.

He said the council had been impressed at the advances made by Cardlink since the fleet management contract was last tendered five years ago.

"The market has advanced considerably with the technology, tools and options we have available to manage the fleet," he says.

Auckland City's fleet includes vehicles ranging from management cars to the small hatchbacks currently used by building consent, noise control and parking officers.

Mr Munro says the council's cars do quite low mileages around the city and there is an opportunity to work the fleet a little harder. The fleet managers will be responsible for moving the vehicles around to smooth the kilometres among the fleet, he says.

Cardlink Systems' Fleet Manager, Mr Bob Renton, says the Fleetsmart management team will introduce best business practises to Auckland City's fleet and these would lead to more transparency of costs and greater overall efficiency.

He says a key objective will be to introduce total cost of ownership reporting for the fleet.

"That will measure total lifetime cost of the vehicle from purchase through to resale. This is a powerful management tool for advising Auckland City on the fleet efficiency and "fit for purpose vehicles."

BACKGROUNDER

Cardlink Systems Limited

Cardlink is the largest independent provider of charge card services in New Zealand.

Established in 1984 to provide fleet management services for Government departments and corporate fleet operators, Cardlink has evolved a range of fleet management products and transportation card services based on software systems that have been developed in-house.

Cardlink’s products have been developed in-house and are now in widespread use, from simple fuel cards up to the powerful fleet management products and loyalty card systems.

Fleetsmart is Cardlink’sfleet management business and among the fleets managed by Fleetsmart are Telecom NZ, Downer Connect, Alstom NZ, Transfield, Te Wananga O Aotearoa, National Bank and Natural Gas Ltd.

Fleetsmart is able to manage all aspects of company vehicle operation, including:-

Sourcing the most cost-effective vehicle for the job (the detailed information is all held in our information database)

Managing lease contracts and adding value to these by way of notices re servicing, mileage, warrants of fitness, RUC, etc

Ensuring all legal requirements are met

Managing servicing and maintenance and accident repairs, including pre approved limits for all costs

Ensuring the fleet is run to best practise

Driving efficiencies into the operation to save the company money
Fleet Operators are increasingly outsourcing their fleet management to Cardlink, which provides safe, well-maintained vehicles that meet all statutory requirements and company guidelines. A number of detailed reports are available, including the cost of the fleet overall, fuel analysis, the most efficient vehicles to purchase for any given job – including analysis down to cents per kilometres travelled – and the total cost of ownership of any vehicle over its lifetime. The reports and the information they include can be personalised and are either hard copy or electronic .

The benefits of Cardlink’s fleet management service include:-

Independent – can purchase vehicles, services and fuel from whichever supplier is bested suited to the business

Minimises the cost and resources need to run a fleet by providing accurate financial and operational information

Easy access for management to all relevant fleet information via personalised reports

Provides security of purchasing

Cardlink’s fleet management personnel are experts in this field

All fleet purchases can be made at approved suppliers or, if one is not available, at any one of 5000 merchants nationwide (this is aligned with point 1).

Pro-active monitoring and re-issue of registration WOF, COF, and road user charges

Government departments using GSB Supplycorp can access Cardlink’s VAM service, which gives a total cost of ownership of vehicles from purchase to sale (including the final disposal sale price in the total cost.)

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