- Keynote address delivered at SA Auto Week 2026.
- Acquisition draws 70 to 80% of attention.
- Eight of ten TCO components are driver-controlled.
- Poor driving adds about R2 750 monthly.
- Structured EV training takes four to eight weeks.
Fleet managers spend most of their attention on the wrong part of a vehicle’s life, Eugene Herbert, CEO of MasterDrive, argued in his keynote address at SA Auto Week 2026. An estimated 70 to 80% of management attention on fleet cost goes to the acquisition stage, yet that single event represents less than 1% of a vehicle’s operating life.
Total cost of ownership across the lifecycle
Herbert noted that a vehicle earns or loses money at every stage from purchase to disposal, with how it is driven, managed, maintained and ultimately valued shaping the final figure. “Of the ten components of total cost of ownership, eight sit within the driver’s control, while acquisition and finance are fixed at purchase,” he said.
One good driving habit can set off a chain reaction. Good anticipation, for instance, leads to smoother braking, which extends tyre and brake life, supports efficient energy use and reduces collision risk. On a vehicle with controllable operating costs of R20 000 per month, less efficient driving can add around R2 750, roughly 14%. That comes to R33 000 a year per vehicle and R3.3 million across 100 vehicles.
Telematics paired with driver coaching
To make good habits stick, the MasterDrive chief recommends using telematics and training together. Telematics captures what happened, where and when, while training explains why and shows drivers what to do differently. Measuring the results completes the cycle. “One without the other will not have the desired impact on TCO,” Herbert said.
Preparing fleets for electric vehicles
Electric vehicles may cost less to run, but battery health and charging history both influence their value, so good charging habits need to be in place from the start. Learning on the job takes two to six months to reach consistently efficient EV driving, while structured training can shorten that to four to eight weeks. Experienced drivers also benefit, and their example influences colleagues.
Three forms of fleet intelligence
Herbert said fleet management rests on three types of insight. Asset intelligence shows what each vehicle costs, driver intelligence explains why by looking at behaviour, and future value intelligence looks ahead to resale. Used together, they turn total cost of ownership into a figure a fleet actively manages rather than one it simply reports at year end, and he urged operators to ask whether they are managing TCO or merely measuring it.
Supplied by MotorPress (Samantha Greathead, MasterDrive South Africa)
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