Fleet Vehicle Disposal Process: Getting Rid of Company-Owned Vehicles

We’ve all outgrown things. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, old clothes, toys and tastes have fallen to the next size up, the new item on the shelf, the next thing. But out with the old and in with the new isn’t limited to personal life. Look at any company and you’ll find the business of change. One prime example is fleet vehicles. Knowing when it’s time to replace them or get out of them is one thing. Having a fleet vehicle disposal process is another. Read on to find out why companies dispose of fleet vehicles, and the approaches they use to do so.

Disposing of Fleet Vehicles: Settle on Why

There are any number of reasons to get rid of fleet vehicles. The reason could be tied to the vehicles themselves: they’re too old, too damaged, too worn. The reason could also be driven by the business decisions: diversifying vehicle programs, downsizing company-owned assets or getting out of fleet. Whatever angle your company is coming into fleet vehicle disposal will color the approach.

Fleet Vehicle Disposal

Disposing of fleet vehicles can be a process. Ultimately, how challenging that process proves depends on a number of factors. The size of the fleet, the types of vehicle and the mileage put on them all play a role. One of the biggest factor impacting fleet vehicle disposal is whether the vehicles are leased or owned.

Leased

Getting rid of fleet vehicles your company leased? That makes things a little easier. Because the company never had full ownership of the vehicles, the process should be fairly straightforward. Fleet vehicle disposal should simply mean returning the vehicles to the business you leased them through. Note that each vendor will have their own process. Be sure you know what your vendor’s is before starting the process.

Owned

Getting rid of fleet vehicles your company owns? This poses more of a challenge and often less of a guideline to follow. Because the company has full ownership of the vehicles, there’s a variety of options for disposal, from auctioning them off to the public to offering them to employees and more. Let’s take an in-depth look at these options.

Sell

Though the price of used cars is falling, companies offloading their fleet vehicles don’t need to give them away. That doesn’t mean businesses won’t face their share of challenges. One of the biggest when disposing of fleet vehicles is the time and effort required. Whether it’s a fleet of 5 or 50, each vehicle is different and will require pre-sale preparation.

There are a number of approaches companies can take to sell their fleet vehicles. That stretches from working directly with dealerships or other automotive partners to auctions to listing them online. This is where the time and effort preparing vehicles for sale will come into play.

Businesses may opt to do this in-house, but other companies do provide services to help with the resale of fleets of vehicles. Automotive connections and pre-existing marketing infrastructure definitely give these resellers an advantage. Keep in mind, a partnership with a reseller is more likely to benefit companies with a minimum of 10 to 20 vehicles.

Offer to Employees

Companies getting out of their fleet often have concerns about their driving employees. What if they don’t have a vehicle of their own? One approach we’ve seen a lot of companies take is offering to sell these vehicles to their employees first.  It’s two birds, one stone option. Employers offload their fleet while employees can continue driving the vehicle their used to driving around of business.

Chances are, not every employee really wants their fleet vehicle. Even if a large percentage do, there will still be a number of vehicles left. That’s why most companies offering this option often begin with their employees before opening them to other interested parties. It’s just one method employers can use to help their employees transitioning out of fleet.

Gift

While less common, companies can choose to gift fleet vehicles to a third party. When compared with the other options, this disposal process is fairly easy. However, ease isn’t everything. By gifting fleet vehicles, companies stand to lose significant value. Depending on company size and industry, that might be a non-starter.

Proceeding with Fleet Vehicle Disposal

Like dumping a pair of ill-fitting shoes, it’s good to know what you’ll be doing next well before you need to. If you’re still in the planning stages of fleet vehicle disposal, there’s a lot to know about the costs of a company-provided vehicle program and its flexible alternatives. Learn more about what transitioning out of a fleet program looks like in our guide.

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