I want to know what happened to people taking some personal responsibility and care for the plant, vehicles and machinery that they drive at work.

How often does damage happen to an item of fleet in your workplace and no one knows anything about it? "It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it." "I know nothing about it." "Oh, I think that was so and so." "It was like that when I arrived this morning to do the pre-start." 

Heard any of these lately? I mean, c’mon, what’s wrong with this picture? I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t shy away from admitting to your mates that you dinged your precious 4x4 a little on the weekend while bush bashing, but when it comes to having a bit of spine at work you go weak at the knees.

Fleet Managers waste too much time investigating small incidents and accidents only to get to the truth of the matter anyway, when it would have been so much easier if the operator had just put their hand up and admitted responsibility. You will earn the respect of others for the errors that you make if you take responsibility, but annoy them forever if you choose to lie.

To stop our Anonymous Fleet Manager (AFM) blowing a gasket, we created Internal Combustion, a monthly column for fleet-related rants that lets AFM blow off some steam. Got a fleet gripe you'd like to get AFM's opinion on? Email emily.ditchburn@ipwea.org and she'll pass it on.