New independent research commissioned by Allstar, a Corpay company, has found that mid-market fleet decision-makers across the UK are spending an average of 4.27 hours per week personally downloading, checking, reconciling, analysing and reformatting fleet data, equivalent to almost six working weeks every year.
The study, conducted by independent research house Censuswide, surveyed a total of 300 fleet managers, transport managers, operations managers, procurement managers and finance leaders responsible for fleets of between 21 and 75 vehicles across the UK.
The research also found that 74% of mid-market businesses have no single dedicated full-time fleet manager, meaning that in the majority of cases, responsibility for one of the largest controllable cost lines in the business sits alongside other responsibilities.
On average, respondents manage fleet fuel costs, EV charging costs and driver data across over 3 separate systems, portals or spreadsheets. While, more than a third (36%) use four or more.
One of the most striking findings concerns the relationship between current confidence and recent experience. Eight in ten respondents (80%) said they were confident they would identify out-of-policy or unusual spend before it resulted in avoidable cost. Yet 30% reported discovering out-of-policy or unusual spend only after the cost had already been incurred in the previous 12 months.
Analysis of the data reveals this pattern consistently across various issues. Among respondents who reported discovering out-of-policy spend after the cost was incurred, 85% currently report being confident they would identify it before it creates a problem. For missed savings and opportunities, the figure is 81% and for EV charging or reimbursement errors, it is 85%.
Every respondent reported discovering at least one of the listed fleet issues only after the cost had already been incurred during the previous 12 months. However, when an issue is flagged, the average mid-market business takes more than four and a half days to move from identifying it to acting on it. Only 1% act on the same day.
Fleet decision-makers estimate that an average of 9.4% of their annual fuel and fleet spend is lost to avoidable costs, including out-of-policy spend, inefficient purchasing, missed savings opportunities and vehicle downtime.
Despite these challenges, appetite for technology and AI-enabled tools is strong. 66% of respondents said they would trust AI to handle simple, routine fleet tasks but want human control over anything significant. A further 16% said they would welcome AI that flags issues and recommends actions, provided they approve the decisions.
No respondent said they did not want AI involved in fleet decisions at all. When asked what would most increase their trust in AI-enabled fleet recommendations, 33% cited supporting evidence or data behind the recommendation.
