What a world of numbers we live in: they have come to define our successes and failures.
In football numbers mean the route to glory, to Europe – or, potentially, the downward tumble to a lower division.
In terms of our national ‘feelgood factor’ numbers define how well we are doing. Has the housing market recovered by a few percentage points? Why is inflation so stubbornly high?
Numbers can be dramatic, too. If you have the opportunity to see the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, then I suggest you take it.
The play, the set, and the acting is quite compelling, so little wonder that the play took so many awards in the Oliviers, the stage version of the Oscars – seven in total, including best actor for Luke Treadaway in the lead role of 15 year old Christopher with Asperger’s syndrome.
For Christopher, much of his world is surrounded by numbers.
But numbers are just that if they have no real meaning, no relevance. I was thinking about this recently following a conference I attended where I noted down some interesting figures:
That, I suggest, is remarkable progress.
But what do these numbers mean? I interpret them to be the opening up of low-emission choice – and for low-emission, also read lower company car tax, reduced running costs and improved whole life costs.
These are tangible benefits to both fleet managers and to company car drivers. In a time when cost reduction is paramount, fiscal policy is dictating ever lower C02 emissions to keep benefit in kind company car tax in check.
Interestingly, these advances in low CO2 emission technology mirror some figures from our own fleet.
Since 2008, the fleet that we manage has seen a reduction in the CO2 emissions it produces of an astonishing 6.2 billion grams. That’s a fall of 16% on the CO2 produced by that fleet in 2008.
What do those numbers mean? They are so large it’s hard to comprehend. But let me put it another way: if we take the current average CO2 produced by a car and the mileage covered that’s the equivalent of 1,319 fewer cars on the road – imagine that?
It’s the tangible effect of reducing CO2 emissions. In fleet management, I always find lower numbers are best!
What a world of numbers we live in: they have come to define our successes and failures. In football numbers mean the route to glory, to Europe – or, potentially, the downward tumble to a lower division. In terms of our national ‘feelgood factor’ numbers define how well we are doing. Has the housing market … Continued
It’s official – we are the best company to work for in Scotland. Yeeeesssss! I can’t tell you how proud I am for the staff and managers here at Fleet Alliance. The beaming faces that have graced the workplace since we found out last week have been great to see. The award was presented by … Continued
About as near as I ever get to ‘networked’ is switching on my mobile phone. Social networks? I tend to leave Facebook to others, to be honest. But one network I’m quite keen to understand more about is ‘networked driving’. Now this might sound like you can give up on looking at the road ahead … Continued
Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that me and technology are not the closest of bedfellows.I can push the buttons on my phone and call people, but anything after that becomes, shall we say – erm…Tricky? OK, so you do know me… Inevitably I have to rely on those around me … Continued
OK, so perhaps road safety isn’t quite as ‘exciting’ as an episode of Sex in the City, but staying alive in an accident is always quite high up my agenda. In fact, keeping other people alive in an accident is also right up there. According to the number crunchers, if you drive regularly in city … Continued
Thank you Mr Osborne. I’m off down the pub to fill up my car with beer. The 3p fuel duty rise due in September may have been scrapped, but the tax on beer has gone down. Impressive. “Landlord! I’ll have eight gallons of your finest ‘heavy’. And one for yourself.” Well, if the Chancellor can … Continued
The Geneva Motor Show started last week and kicked off the European season of new car debuts. Geneva is always a great shop window on what we can expect to be seeing on fleets over the next year. But what really caught my attention was not the fuel sipping, low CO2 embracing cars – of … Continued
It’s nearly April, and if you’re a company car driver, are you wondering what the taxman might be liberating from your hard-earned wages at the end of the month? Company car tax rarely stands still; and this April will be no exception as the tax bands move up by 5g/km CO2 putting most company cars … Continued
As a company car driver, is size a measure of success to you? I mean, bigger is always better, of course, a reflection of progress on the career ladder. Well it is, isn’t it? But just look at your mobile phone: once this was the famous Motorola ‘brick’, an enormous hand-held device that required its … Continued
I have to say, I’m genuinely intrigued by BMW’s new i brand, and particularly the new BMW i3. Not heard of it? It’s BMW’s electric small car built for so-called megacities. Or, as BMW puts it, the very first electrically powered premium vehicle. It’s due here later this year. I just feel that if anyone … Continued