Users of the Fleet Agent tool speak

“Fleet Agent is user-friendly and comprehensive, also for our employees.”

The employees of the Ter Beke group have a somewhat full range of tasks, but the job as fleet manager? They often find that the most enjoyable part. Certainly if they are working with the Fleet Agent tool from Alphabet.

Ter Beke is a well-known name in fine meat products and freshly prepared meals, produced and distributed from 12 industrial sites in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Poland and the United Kingdom. Ter Beke employs some 2,750 people. The company has been listed on Euronext Brussels since 1986. In 2019, it realised a turnover of € 728.1 million.

At Ter Beke, company cars are a form of remuneration – a highly valued form. Also in countries other than Belgium, even in the UK where the company car is virtually unknown.

The Ter Beke fleet numbers more than 120 company cars in Belgium and almost 190 in the other countries. Because the group grew via the acquisition of other companies, there were also historical differences in car policy, in addition to national differences in taxation and so on.

“We aim to keep the rules, as much as possible, the same for all countries. We have also switched to Alphabet for all countries. We have been working with them here in Belgium since 1994, at that time still under the name CW Lease. The year that Ter Beke started with prepared meals, the beginning of the growth.”

Are there any special objectives for fleet management at Ter Beke?

“You can always work towards certain objectives. Keeping costs as low as possible, for example, that is obvious. The margins in our sector are not that big. But, at the same time, you have to take certain factors into account. The company car is primarily an HR tool. Do you ensure that your people are (and remain) satisfied, or do you bring down the CO2, or do you above all want to be fiscally perfect? It’s a trade-off.”

Has Ter Beke already switched to electric driving?

“In principle, it can be done. Within the allocated budget, an employee can opt for electric. But our group is spread over many locations and these are often far apart. In most cases, the range provided by an electric car is not sufficient to drive, for example, the 550 km from here in Belgium to our French location. And there is often not enough time to recharge. But we do see that changing over time.”

How long have you been working with Fleet Agent?

“Fleet Agent has been with us from the beginning, our employees even worked with the demo version! What do we think of Fleet Agent so far?”

“Fleet Agent is an incredibly useful tool, easy to use.” 

The tool offers many functions. What do you mostly do with it?

With Fleet Agent you can ...

• Calculate lease rates easily
• Make and compare quotes
• Order cars
• Track the status of your order
• View contract details
• Export management information to Excel
• Look up the tax value of your lease cars
• Easily calculate own contributions
• Follow-up claim reports

“The answer is simple: we use all functions, because they are all useful.

What is also important is that we can refer our drivers to Fleet Agent. There they see data on claims and consumption, the number of fines, etc. This creates awareness.

Furthermore, our drivers can configure their car themselves and calculate the cost of particular options, albeit only outside of working hours. And if they already have a company car: they can personally contact the Drivers’ desk of Alphabet, pass on accident reports, make appointments for their winter tyres, download a new white card for their insurance, etc. These are all things that would otherwise be added to the HR workload.”

“With Fleet Agent, you can leave a lot to your employees themselves.”

What if there is a question about Fleet Agent?

“Then we can call on the help provided by the Helpdesk. That works fine. However, it would be good if that were also available outside working hours. Maybe a suggestion? It would also be good if we could temporarily adjust the settings in Fleet Agent ourselves in accordance with the rules of our car policy, i.e. loosen them. For example, when we create a new driver.”

In short, what does Ter Beke see as the main advantages of Fleet Agent?

“For our drivers it is mainly the accessibility (outside of working hours), the simple choose-calculate-order process, obtaining real-time quotes and the many DIY functions. Everything can be calculated, which helps to rule out many discussions.

Personally, we appreciate the fact that all the data you need as a fleet manager is available in one place. Complete and clear. A good tool for fleet management. Fleet Agent also allows us to leave a lot to the employees themselves and still keep control, car policy-proof.”