Find out how to Protect & Position Fleet Vehicles During Disasters – Safety

Working in Florida, Patti Earley is all too accustomed to natural disasters. During Hurricane Milton in 2024, a fellow worker had just left the organization’s emergency operations center when a tornado crossed the road in front of him — and he watched it jump right over his house. 

“His wife and baby were home in a closet with the dog,” she said. “Thankfully, everyone was okay, however the front window was blown out and the yard was a multitude.”

The subsequent morning, he called Earley to say he was coming in. “I told him, ‘If I were you, I’d stay home and fix your home. We’ll see you tomorrow.’”

The story underscores that fleet operations don’t stop when disaster looms, and neither do their operators.  

Three fleet experts — Earley, CAFM, fleet fuel operations manager at Florida Power & Light (FPL), Matthew Salm, COO at Auto Driveaway, and Sue Germaine, director of risk and compliance for Wheels — offer perspectives on how organizations can prepare their vehicles for disaster, avoid costly damage, and keep employees protected and productive.

Vehicle Movements: Pondering Ahead

“The ‘before’ phase of a disaster is all about preparation,” said Salm. That features every thing from trimming hazardous trees near vehicle storage areas to identifying staging locations well upfront of a storm.

Germaine concurs: “At Wheels, our disaster response process begins before an incoming disaster hits,” she said. “Our teams closely monitor disasters, proactively identifying at-risk vehicles at dealers, upfitters, and in the sector.”

“We coordinate with clients to work with them to regulate fuel card restrictions, support rental requests, and prepare drivers for potential fuel shortages or route disruptions.”

For hurricanes, which generally offer days of advance notice, Auto Driveaway’s network often gets the decision to extract vehicles from vulnerable areas, sometimes just a couple of blocks inland, sometimes tons of of miles away. “Each situation is different,” said Salm. “It’s about knowing your goal. Do it’s good to save the vehicles or stage them for post-storm use?”

That’s why relationships with transporters matter. A trusted logistics partner may also help determine whether your vehicles must move 4 miles or 400. “If we all know there’s a protected parking deck nearby, we’ll advise you,” Salm said. 

Salm also advises fleets to evaluate their infrastructure: Do you’ve gates that will be opened remotely in an influence outage? Do you’ve overflow lots which might be actually accessible when trees come down?

Ultimately, said Salm, it’s crucial to know that these movements must occur well before a storm’s arrival as is logistically possible. Waiting until a storm path is confirmed is commonly too late to soundly move large volumes of vehicles.

Auto Driveaway stresses that operational constraints and worker safety mean they’ll only act when moves are planned early and deliberately.

A Utility Fleet’s Perspective: Avoiding the Storm Surge

At FPL, flooding is the most important risk, not wind. “Storm surge is what takes vehicles out. Once it starts, you’re not moving anything,” she said. 

FPL monitors hurricane paths with help from an in-house meteorologist and uses staging areas just like the Daytona Speedway to position each its own fleet and incoming mutual aid resources.

Business fleets won’t have their very own meteorologist. But they’ll emulate one with regional alerts and apps that may also help with proactive tracking to avoid reactive scrambling.

Most of FPL’s vehicles are assigned to the identical operators, who’re answerable for driving them to safer ground. “We rarely use outside transporters,” Earley said. “Our team is already mobilizing before the storm hits.”

Earley also emphasized the necessity for a proper checklist, one which covers every thing from fuel levels to emergency kits in each vehicle. “Your drivers are your first responders,” she said. “Give them what they should be protected and self-sufficient.”

Don’t Wait for the Forecast to Make a Call

One in all Salm’s biggest pieces of recommendation is to get in contact early — not when the storm is already on target. Too many fleets wait until the storm path is confirmed, by which era windows of protected movements can have already closed. While Auto Driveaway prioritizes long-standing customer relationships, capability can still turn out to be constrained.

If moving vehicles isn’t feasible, communication is critical. “Sometimes the perfect we are able to do is provide condition assessments and photos post-storm,” Salm said. “Just knowing what you’re coping with helps reduce the uncertainty.”

He also recommends documenting vehicle condition before the storm: “Take walkaround videos or timestamped photos. Insurance claims are much easier when you’ve a visible record.”

The Cost of Ignoring the Risk

Despite advanced warning, the selections made before a storm can mean the difference between preserving a fleet or losing it entirely. Earley shared one sobering example from her time assisting utility fleets after Superstorm Sandy.

“I talked to a fleet manager in Recent York City who had 300 vehicles parked in a structure ahead of the storm,” she recalled. “They were told not to make use of that location — and so they lost all of them when it flooded.”

The lesson: Know the vulnerabilities of your storage locations and vet them fastidiously. “Even in areas that aren’t typically liable to flooding, you possibly can be very surprised,” Earley said.

Smart disaster planning starts with knowing your sites and their inherent risks. Don’t just depend on past weather events; reevaluate your facilities using current floodplain maps and worst-case projections.

Triaging Vehicles, Prepare for Repairs

Through the event, it’s all about staying connected with the supplier network, tracking fuel availability, roadside service activity, and port or plant closures, Germaine said. “In heavily impacted areas, our emergency roadside network shifts to prioritize safety and native emergency coordination.”

Post-storm, the challenge becomes triaging damaged vehicles and restoring service. “For us, it’s like medical triage,” said Salm. “The greens return into service, the yellows might have repairs, and the reds could be auction-bound.”

“Once the immediate threat passes, we conduct outreach to evaluate the condition of client vehicles and any supply chain interruptions,” Germaine said, adding that Wheels triages too, based on operational urgency around coordinating repairs, rentals, or alternative transportation when needed.

Totaled vehicles will need substitute rentals. Fleets with rental agreements already in place will get to the front of the road. “Don’t try to begin that conversation after the storm,” Earley warned.

Earley advised that fleets also prepare for repair facility outages through vendor diversification. Salm agrees: “Even when a facility isn’t damaged, they’re going to be overwhelmed with demand,” he says. “Constructing a relationship with a secondary vendor or knowing where you possibly can tow overflow vehicles is critical.”

Recovery isn’t nearly repairing assets, it’s about protecting operational continuity. Earley suggests maintaining a buffer of ready-to-deploy vehicles by holding over some outgoing vehicles during storm season. 

“We delay auctioning a few of our equipment just in case we want it post-storm,” she explained. 

Relationships Are Your Best Asset

Each Salm and Earley emphasized that trusted relationships with logistics providers, vendors, and internal teams are the inspiration of successful disaster response. “Assets will be replaced. People cannot,” said Salm. “But for those who prepare with the correct partners, you’ll protect each.”

Fleets should conduct a post-event review to refine their plans. What went well? What needs work? Who needs to be on the table earlier next time? 

“Every storm teaches us something latest,” said Earley. “Smart fleets use those lessons to be stronger next time.”