Over the past decade, fleet managers have narrowed the scope of personal use of company vehicles. According to Automotive Fleet’s Personal Use Surveys from 2013 through 2024, fewer fleets now permit unrestricted or family driving, while the proportion allowing personal use overall has fallen from 87% to 72%.
The data showsasteady shift away from viewing the company vehicle as a universal perk and toward treating it as a controlled business asset. Spouse and dependent driving permissions have dropped sharply, from 46% and 19% in 2013 to 27% and 9% in 2024, while 95% of fleets now limit driving strictly to employees. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic briefly disrupted thistrend, assome organizations expanded flexibility to maintain operational continuity, but policies tightened after.
Fleet Manager Personal -Use Charges (2013-2024)
|
Year |
Avg. Monthly Charge |
|
2013 |
$121 |
|
2015 |
$128 |
|
2016 |
$132 |
|
2017 |
$134 |
|
2018 |
$134 |
|
2019 |
$139 |
|
2020 |
$142 |
|
2022* |
$132 |
|
2024* |
$123 |
Average monthly personal-use charges among fleets that assess a fee have remained relatively consistent, generally between $120 and $140 per month, since 2013. In 2022 and 2024, the survey began collecting $0 responses, which are excluded from these averages for comparability. In 2024, about half of fleets reported $0 charges, signaling a shift toward treating personal use as a workplace benefit rather than a reimbursable cost.
Source: Bobit Research
Personal Use Allowed ‘At All Times’ (2013-2014)
Personal use allowed at all times has declined consistently over 10 years.
Source: Bobit Research
Fleet Personal Use Policy Snapshot (2024)
In 2024, 72% of fleets allow some form of personal use, down from roughly 80% five years earlier, while nearly all limit driving to employees only. Spouse and dependent permissions have continued to decline, and fewer than half of fleets charge any fee for personal use. Compared with prior surveys, unrestricted use (“at all times”) has dropped sharply, and annual reconciliations have become less frequent.
Source: Bobit Research
Personal-Use Assignment Factors (2024)
In every survey since 2008, “job function” has remained the primary factor determining who receives a company vehicle. While personal-use policies have evolved, who gets a vehicle has not.
Source: Bobit Research
Who May Drive Fleet Vehicles (2013-2024)
Over the past decade, fleet policies have increasingly restricted vehicle use to employees only. Spouse and dependent driving privileges have fallen sharply — from 46% and 19% in 2013 to 27% and 9% in 2024 — while employee-only use rose to 95%. The brief spike in 2020 likely reflects pandemic-related flexibility, as many fleets eased restrictions to support remote and essential operations.
Source: Bobit Research
At the same time, the economics of personal use have evolved. Among fleets that assess a fee, average monthly charges have remained relatively stable, typically between $120 and $140. However, many fleets do not charge for personal use, signifying that personal use isavalued employee retention benefit.
Compliance and administrative oversight have also changed. The percentage of fleets conducting annual personal-use reconciliations (“true-ups”) peaked at 54% in 2020 but declined to 30% by 2024, while those that never reconcile rose to 45%. Fewer fleets perform motor vehicle record (MVR) checks on non-employee drivers, partly because so few now permit anyone other than the employee to drive.
In total, the 10-year survey trend depicts an industry that has become tighter, leaner, and more policy-driven. Fleets continue to balance risk management and cost recovery with the employee value proposition of a take-home vehicle — a dynamic that will remain central to fleet governance discussions in the years ahead. ■
