Equipment rental specialists Sunbelt Rentals joined forces with TMC in June 2022 for mileage capture, audit and payroll purposes. A mixed fleet of fuel card users and cash allowance drivers required a simple mileage logging process, whilst Sunbelt needed to find a way to reimburse their ever-rising EV population fairly and adequately.

By using TMC, employees are able to view their mileage submissions, fuel spend and relevant payroll information including reimbursements/deductions on their individual user accounts, digitalising the whole process.

Managers are also able to view mileage, fuel and compliance figures for all of their employees on one platform, including information on CO2 emissions and sustainability, via their online dashboard.

The mileage logging process for Sunbelt employees remains the same regardless of vehicle type. Drivers use the mobile app ‘Mileage Track’ or the online portal to record each business journey undertaken; the mobile app allows drivers to start and stop at the beginning/end of their trip to track mileage driven via GPS, whilst the online system allows them to manually log trip information.

Drivers are also able to manually log business journeys using the app if they prefer.

At the end of each month, prompted by TMC, drivers submit an odometer reading to close the period and calculate their private mileage. The TMC team conduct audits on business mileage and fuel/electric spend to ensure accuracy and compliance; where there are discrepancies, they contact the driver directly to resolve.

Sunbelt’s car policy is to run a 100% electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) fleet and with the 2030 ban on ICE vehicles in sight, the number of employees taking on these vehicles continues to grow. With this came the need to ensure that these drivers are reimbursed fairly, so that the change to EV is seen as a worthwhile benefit rather than a hinderance. That’s where TMC came in.

TMC were able to create a tailored electric vehicle scheme that enables drivers to be reimbursed at actual cost by looking at the individuals home tariff rate, the total kWhs used throughout the month, the mileage driven and any public charging purchased. The reimbursement rate is then calculated per driver based on the information provided to us and is a fair yet compliant way of managing employee electric vehicle costs.

Sunbelt wanted to reimburse their employees at true cost given the difficulty with reimbursing EV drivers at the HMRC advisory electric rate. TMC’s ability to do this was a big reason for the formed relationship according to David Phillips, Operations Director – Sunbelt 3.0.

“The ability to flex how we reimburse colleagues using the AER was a key player in decision to go with TMC. We were also pleased with the way that TMC took ownership of our employees to provide them with the knowledge and expertise of electric vehicles and mileage claims with regards to electric vehicles.”

At the start of the journey, TMC were able to provide workshops with Sunbelt drivers to discuss the requirements of the employee and answer any questions that they had. All drivers have access to our online user guides on their account and are fully supported by our dedicated customer services team if they have any queries at all whilst using the TMC system.

 

A big benefit of the TMC relationship is down to the payroll. Sunbelt Rentals receive a monthly ready-made payroll file that details the deduction or reimbursement due for each employee. The different user types and vehicles mean that there are different payroll calculations, yet TMC incorporate all of this into one file to streamline payments and take the administration work away from the client.

Alongside payroll, TMC provide reporting to our customers that help steer policy and overall strategy. Line manager reports are sent monthly to summarise driver activity alongside our online portal which allows nominated mangers to have sight of all things TMC, including the ability to produce and download their own reporting.