Travel Mgr. Takes On Fleets.

<FONT SIZE="+3"><B> Travel Mgr. Takes On Fleets</B>

When Mary Mahar was hired as travel manager at Boston Scientific, a manufacturer of catheter-based medical devices in Natick, Mass., she also was assigned responsibility for the company's domestic fleet of 370 leased sedans-a somewhat daunting prospect.

Mahar knew very little about the fleet business and had to educate herself about such basics and nuances as "the financial impact of the fleet-how to manage a resource, not just a car, which involves setting up interest rates, figuring out the life cycle costs of a car and how much it really costs you."

To do this, she attended seminars sponsored by the National Association of Fleet Administrators, which covered auto safety, how to remarket a car and other pertinent topics. She also joined a local chapter of NAFA and attends the group's monthly meetings. (Based in Iselin, N.J., NAFA has 33 regional chapters; there's an annual membership fee of $320. For more information, call 908-494-8100.)

Mahar also took steps to get more bang for the company's fleet buck. She signed up for the scheduled maintenance program offered by ARI Leasing (Automotive Rentals Inc.), Boston Scientific's leasing company, which provides employees with booklets of coupons offering discounts at certain auto maintenance facilities. She also opted for AMI's fuel card program, which provides discounts on gas and prevents employees from buying more expensive, premium grades of gas. And to help create an incentive for employees to take better care of the cars, Mahar started a program in which they are offered the company car at a wholesale price. About 10 percent of employees have taken this option.

Given all these initiatives, it might seem ironic that as of July 1, Boston Scientific will be outsourcing its fleet management to AMI. But Mahar couldn't be happier. Unlike so many companies, Boston Scientific is outsourcing because of growth, not downsizing: Since Mahar's arrival, the number of employees has mushroomed from 1,500 to 8,300, mainly because of acquisitions. Mahar said the company had considered hiring another fleet manager, but after assessing the costs it chose outsourcing as more economical. Boston Scientific's fee to AMI will be a percentage of the total capital cost of the cars; insurance still is being negotiated.

While the leasing company will take over all the day-to-day tasks of managing the fleet, Mahar, who will focus on travel, will still be involved in some aspects of fleet management, overseeing the numbers, billing and customer service.