The institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) has confirmed its Australasian fleet conference will take place at the Royal International Convention Centre in Brisbane from March 27 to 29.
It says the three-day program has been tailored to meet the needs of fleet managers by focusing on the four dimensions of fleet management being: technical, people, technology and strategy.
IPWEA Fleet says its mission is to support those working, or intending to work, in the management, procurement, maintenance and use of plant, vehicles and equipment.
It says fleet management is a complex task with many moving parts and lots of interactions with internal and external stakeholders.
IPWEA Fleet says there have been many discussions about the skillset required to be a fleet manager, and that it should be treated as a profession. Unfortunately, managers in other departments don’t always value skills that fleet practitioners use in their roles and incorrectly categorise it as one discipline such as procurement or administration.
The speakers at the conference will explore each of these four dimensions during the multiple stream sessions on day 2.
EV Day
IPWEA Fleet has designated day 3 of the conference as EV Day and IPWEA Fleet director Marc Sibbald thinks it will be the highlight of the event.
“Everyone wants to know more about electric vehicles. There’s so much to learn so we’ve designed the program in a way that makes the last day of the conference all about zero and low emission fleet vehicles,” says Sibbald.
The speakers on day three include representatives from the QLD and ACT Government who are leading the way by transitioning their fleets as well as case studies from Fleet Managers in local government that have made the decision to accelerate their journey to zero emission vehicles.
A key feature at every IPWEA fleet conference is the technical tour. This year the delegates will visit Northside Kia in Brisbane to see how they are adapting to accommodate electric vehicles.
Fleet managers will get the chance to see a modern workshop in operation and get information on the equipment and staff training required to service zero emission cars.
“The entire conference could be about EVs though it’s still an emerging area of fleet management and there are so many other priorities for organisations such as using data for decision making, risk management and asset utilisation,” Sibbald says.
“We have two other days in the program that will focus on the other areas of fleet management to help delegates deal with the post-COVID economic environment,” he says
