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Fleet management has always been a complex balancing act, but today’s fleet managers are navigating an increasingly data-heavy and regulatory-driven environment.
Yet, the 2025 Fleet200 report suggests that many UK fleets are sparsely staffed at the central team level, a situation that could be quietly increasing operational and road risk. For clarity, the Fleet200 data refers to total central fleet team headcount (excluding workshop staff), not senior leadership roles.
In this article, we explore how manpower limitations can impact driver safety and operational resilience.
Are fleet management teams overburdened?
In general, central fleet teams across UK organisations are stretched too thin. Fleet200 data shows that running fleets of 500–999 vehicles typically requires a team of seven people, equating to one central fleet team member per 231 vehicles.
Across all departments and fleet types, the average is one team member per 344 vehicles.
For fleets of 1,000+ vehicles, Fleet200 notes that a suitable management team is around 13 people, yet 8 of the UK’s 20 biggest fleets operate with fewer than 12 people in total. Mega fleets average one team member per 480 vehicles.
And this is only a snapshot as we approach 2026. UK fleets are growing, and managers are overseeing more vehicles than ever, while being expected to manage increasingly complex workflows, technologies, and compliance requirements.
Learn how to protect your drivers this Christmas in our guide: How to make the Christmas period safer for fleet drivers
The pressure of expanding fleet manager responsibilities
Modern fleet management is no longer just about scheduling maintenance and assigning vehicles. Today’s fleet managers act as operational leaders, analysts, compliance officers, and risk managers—all at once.
The Fleet200 report highlights this challenge:
‘…considering the growing need for data analysis to manage business intelligence tools and information flowing in from multiple sources, including telematics, insurance, licence checking, and incident reporting, it is evident that many fleets remain under-resourced.’
Here’s what modern fleet managers are taking on:
- Data analysis & business intelligence
With the rise of telematics, GPS tracking, fuel management systems, and integrated operational dashboards, fleet managers are expected to process enormous volumes of data daily.
They must identify trends in driver behaviour, vehicle performance, and fuel usage to make informed decisions that improve efficiency and safety.
Mistakes or missed signals can result in higher operational costs, increased accident risk, and wasted resources.
- Regulatory compliance
Fleet managers are responsible for navigating a complex landscape of legal and regulatory requirements. This includes ensuring that every driver has a valid licence, all vehicles meet safety standards, insurance obligations are met, and regular audits are completed on time.
One missed licence check or delayed inspection could not only lead to fines but also jeopardise organisational liability if an incident occurs.
Outsourcing licence and document checking to Cardinus can free up internal resources for safer, more efficient operations, even with low management headcounts.
- Incident reporting and risk mitigation
When accidents or near-misses occur, fleet managers must act swiftly. They review incident reports, analyse root causes, and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
In real time, they may need to liaise with insurance providers, coordinate repairs, and communicate with drivers and senior management.
The cumulative pressure of constant vigilance, coupled with managing incidents across a large fleet, can easily overwhelm teams that are already stretched thin.
Cardinus provides a range of fleet risk management services to support in these critical areas, including:
– Post-Accident In-Vehicle Driver Awareness Training
- Vendor and supplier coordination
From maintenance contractors to fuel providers, fleet managers oversee a web of external partners. Negotiating contracts, monitoring service quality, and resolving disputes requires both operational know-how and strategic foresight.
Any lapse in this area can result in delays, higher costs, and even vehicle downtime, all of which impact productivity and, ultimately, the safety of the fleet.
Related – How to survive vehicle supply shortages – a guide for fleet managers
Why understaffing matters – potential risks of overly lean fleet risk management teams
When fleet managers are overburdened, it can have operational, financial, and safety consequences. Understaffing at the head level can ripple across an organisation in multiple ways:
- Increased Safety Risks
Safety is the most immediate concern when fleet managers are stretched too thin. Missed incident reports, delayed maintenance schedules, or overlooked telematics alerts can all lead to preventable accidents.
For example, a vehicle with a minor but critical fault may remain on the road because the manager didn’t have time to follow up, putting drivers, passengers, and the public at risk. Similarly, driver behaviour monitoring (key to reducing speeding, harsh braking, or distracted driving) can fall behind, increasing the likelihood of collisions.
- Greater Regulatory Exposure
Fleet managers oversee a complex compliance landscape, including licensing, insurance, and health & safety regulations. When deadlines slip due to workload pressures, organisations face fines, penalties, or even legal liability in the event of an accident.
Understaffing makes it more likely that small compliance tasks are deprioritised, creating a ticking time bomb of regulatory risk that could have serious financial and reputational consequences.
- Operational Inefficiencies
Overburdened managers often operate reactively rather than strategically. Routine maintenance can be delayed, vehicles may be underutilised, and scheduling inefficiencies multiply.
Even small operational lapses, like delays in contract renewals with suppliers or mismanaged fleet rotation, can snowball, increasing costs and reducing overall productivity.
When managers don’t have the capacity to plan ahead, fleets become less agile and more prone to disruptions.
- Compromised Decision-Making
Effective fleet management relies on timely, data-driven decisions. Managers must interpret telematics, fuel usage reports, incident data, and maintenance logs to optimise performance. When stretched too thin, there is simply not enough time to analyse these insights, identify trends, or implement preventive measures.
Decision-making becomes reactive and short-term, leaving fleets vulnerable to avoidable issues and missed opportunities for efficiency improvements.
- Hidden Organisational Costs
Beyond the obvious risks, understaffing also leads to hidden costs. Staff burnout, higher turnover, and reduced morale can erode the effectiveness of the fleet department over time. Knowledge loss and inconsistent practices can make it harder to maintain a culture of safety and compliance, compounding operational risk.
Are small fleet teams simply working smarter?
Lean fleet teams don’t have to be high-risk teams. With the right support structures, even small departments can operate safely and efficiently.
Outsourcing specialist functions (driver risk management, licence checking, telematics analysis, incident handling) allows teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than daily administration.
Digital tools also provide critical support, offering automated reminders, real-time vehicle health alerts, behaviour monitoring dashboards, and integrated compliance workflows.
These tools give lean teams the capability to manage large, complex fleets safely. However, data suggests many fleets are not embracing these opportunities.
Instead, some are reducing workload by not adopting modern safety requirements at all:
- 55% of UK fleets still use paper-based systems for driver risk profiling (Fleet News).
- Four in five fleets lack a formal road safety programme (IAM RoadSmart).
This indicates that some understaffed fleets are coping by lowering safety activity, creating unmanaged risk rather than reducing workload intelligently.
Cardinus: Do more with less – safely
As fleet teams face growing responsibilities and rising operational pressures, the right digital support can make all the difference.
Healthy Working: Safe Driving is our end-to-end fleet risk management software, giving organisations the tools to proactively manage driver risk, reinforce key safety messages, and reduce collisions without adding to internal workloads.
With fully customisable content and industry-proven behaviour-change methods, it helps lean teams achieve safer, smarter, more consistent fleet performance. Book your free trial of Healthy Working: Safe Driving today.
