Episode 252: The Gray Fleet Nobody Manages: Getting Personally Owned Vehicles Right

Almost every organization runs a personally owned vehicle (POV) program, even the ones that say they don’t. Someone drives to a conference. An inspector drives to a job site. A department decides it would rather not park a branded vehicle out front. Before long, there’s a fleet on the road that nobody is managing.

In this episode of The Fleet Success Show, host Marc Canton, VP of Fleet Strategy at RTA, sits down with Tony Yankovich, RTA’s Director of Consulting, to dig into a topic that touches right-sizing, motor pools, vehicle assignment, and policy but rarely gets its own spotlight. They talk through why organizations lean on POVs (hint: avoiding capital spending), why the risk still lands on the employer, and what a well-run program actually requires, from proof of maintenance and business-use insurance to telematics-validated mileage.

Marc shares what he’s seen as an expert witness in reimbursement cases, including how rates get built wrong and why one rate for every vehicle rarely holds up. Tony walks through a county study where POV reimbursements topped $2 million in a year, with some individual employees collecting $30,000 to $40,000. And both make the case for the simplest analysis most fleets never run: the break-even point where a fleet vehicle becomes cheaper than reimbursement.

Key Takeaways

• Why POV programs are more common than most organizations realize
• The capital-cost logic behind POVs, and the risk it leaves behind
• What “standard of care” should look like for employee-owned vehicles
• Reimbursement options: IRS rate, monthly allowance, direct mileage, and a two-tiered approach
• How reimbursement rates get calculated wrong, and why it invites litigation
• Who should be managing the “gray fleet”
• The break-even analysis every fleet should run every year

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Speaker Bios

Marc Canton

Marc Canton is VP of Fleet Strategy at RTA: The Fleet Success Company and host of The Fleet Success Show. A former transportation director with more than 20 years in the role, Marc serves on the NASUF Education Steering Committee and has served as an expert witness in vehicle reimbursement cases. He helps fleet leaders build programs that are efficient, defensible, and fair. 

Tony Yankovich

Tony Yankovich is Director of Consulting at RTA: The Fleet Success Company, where he leads fleet utilization and right-sizing studies for public and private organizations. Tony previously worked in city government and brings that hands-on perspective to helping fleets reduce costs, manage risk, and make data-driven decisions about the vehicles they own and reimburse. 

Additional Resources

Looking to take the first (or next) step in your fleet career journey? Start by requesting your free copy of The Fleet Success Playbook. Written by fleet professionals for fleet professionals, the Playbook breaks down the four key pillars of fleet success, and gives you the tools you need to build a truly great fleet. 

Request your free (yes, really, free!) copy here. 

Control fleet chaos with RTA Fleet360, proven software designed by fleet managers for fleet managers. Request a demo today. 

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