Motus, the premier vehicle management and reimbursement platform, today released its 2019 Mobile Workforce Benchmark Report, which identified rising costs, increased business mileage and volatile fuel prices as key trends that affected the mobile workforce in 2018.
Motus found that the average business mileage per mobile worker increased for the fourth year in a row. Americans drove 20 billion more miles than a year ago, despite higher average fuel prices, which accounted for 25 percent of the total cost to own and operate a vehicle in 2018. These were the key factors that influenced a five percent year-over-year increase in the average annual vehicle program cost per mobile worker.
The report also found that driver safety is often overlooked by companies and that mobile workers continue to drive more miles for business than ever before. Even with the rising number of drivers, only 29 percent of companies take corrective action such as requiring driver safety training when employees have multiple traffic violations. Additionally, 53 percent of injuries obtained while operating a vehicle caused employees to miss work. Employers with company-owned vehicle programs suffered from 94,967 lost work days in 2018 due to accidents.
A majority of companies (78 percent) reported running multiple types of vehicle programs and 70 percent of companies with vehicle allowance programs did not review how much they reimburse employees in the past 12 months. As evidenced by fluctuating gas prices, insurance and other costs of driving that vary by geography, it’s crucial for companies to continuously review their programs and account for these changes.
According to the report, cents-per-mile (CPM) reimbursement, or mileage reimbursement was identified as the most common program and was typically paired with another method for frequent/high-mileage mobile workers. The report also found that Fixed and Variable Rate (FAVR) programs cost about six percent less per employee than the average vehicle program.
“At Motus, we strive to help employers address vehicle program management challenges so they can reimburse their business drivers fairly, while also helping them keep mobile workers safe,” said Ken Robinson, market research analyst for Motus. “Employers need to evaluate their vehicle programs annually and ensure that mobile workers are receiving reimbursements that accurately reflect the costs of driving. Using our Driver Safety Solutions, which can work with any vehicle program, employers have been able to reduce collision insurance rates by 35 percent on average.”
Additional findings from the 2019 Mobile Workforce Benchmark Report include:
- Americans drove a total of 3.2 trillion miles in 2018.
- By choosing the cheapest fuel prices within a 3-mile radius, the average mobile worker can save the equivalent of 3-7 tanks of fuel per year.
- 88 percent of companies do not measure employee satisfaction with their business vehicle program.
- Collision insurance claims continue to increase and are currently at the highest level in 10 years.
- The average grey fleet mobile worker travels about 1,200 distracted miles every year.
The report reveals key data related to U.S.-based vehicle programs and offers best practices to help companies meet the needs of the growing mobile workforce. To access the 2019 full report, please visit: https://resources.motus.com/reports/2019-mobile-workforce-benchmark-report. Last year’s report can be found here: https://resources.motus.com/reports/2018-mobile-workforce-benchmark-report.
About Motus
Motus is the definitive leader in mileage reimbursement and driver management technologies for businesses with mobile workers and fleets of all sizes. Only Motus leverages deep insights captured across the world’s largest retained pool of drivers to calculate personalized and compliant vehicle reimbursements, keep drivers productive and safe, and ultimately maximize returns and minimize risk for all aspects of the mobile workforce. Motus’s expertise also underpins the annual Internal Revenue Service (IRS) business mileage standard, the amount an individual can deduct for business vehicle expenses. For more information about the company, please visit www.motus.com or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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