Global fleet management is one of the biggest fleet career trends moving into the 2020s. With the constant expansion of businesses overseas, they are offering tenured staff with an opportunity to manage global fleet operations. While on one hand, global fleet, management promises huge prospects in terms of learning a new culture and developing an operation from scratch, on the other hand, global fleet management poses a big challenge in many ways. Since different regions have different standards and norms, it is quite difficult to make one’s transition into a global fleet management career. Global fleet managers must adapt to the following things:

1. Different regions come with different fleet rules- for example, if an American fleet manager moves to Dubai to manage a trucking fleet, he/she should be aware that in Dubai trucks are confined to certain roads and during certain hours, while in the US, trucks can freely travel on most roads and operate at all times. Thus, creating a workflow around compliance to restricted roads and work shifts is one of the key aspects of a fleet manager’s project.
2. Driving norms also differ- fleet managers in international fleet leasing companies have to adapt to different driving norms, and accordingly you can create locally compatible driving policies.
3. Commercial drivers are vulnerable to higher risks in certain regions- adapting to a region’s safety norms is of paramount importance when it comes to fleet management. Some regions are more prone to crime, which makes it all the more crucial for global fleet managers to create a safe working environment for their assets. For example, in Russia, there is a high crash-for-crash incident rate, which is why fleet cameras are almost universal.
4. Work norms differ across continents- last but not the least, global fleet managers also experience work culture shock, just as any other international job. If we take into consideration American and European work cultures, the former encourages employees to work beyond office hours to wind up work or to cope with emergencies, while the latter European work culture is not quite open to out-of-office work. In fact, some countries have been prohibited evening and weekend work emails. Global fleet managers have to adapt their work habits accordingly. For starters, new international managers may need to grasp more effective time management strategies to compensate for lesser working hours.

It is certainly not an easy task to move from managing one region to another. However, on a positive note, global fleet managers usually incorporate that flexibility and learn to adapt despite initial struggles. No wonder in recent times, fleet management has emerged to be a successful globalized career path!