Orange France: "Looking for modular van racking"

Orange France has a fleet that’s not only big, it’s also varied, including passenger cars, vans and bucket trucks. Increasingly, Orange is looking at ways to share even its vans, said Patrick Martinoli, Head of Innovation and Automotive Expertise.

Martinoli (pictured right): “We introduced carsharing with Mobility Tech Green in 2013. We have just under 4,000 shared vehicles today but want to increase that to 6,000 by 2025. These are used by about 30,000 Orange workers.”

“Not only does this allow us to reduce the total fleet size, it is also a way to ensure people use the right vehicle. A small electric one to cover short distances by themselves, a larger ICE one for larger distances accompanied by colleagues, for instance.”

Do you also share vans?

“We do but vans with tools in them are still a complicated matter. I would like to develop a modular storage solution that technicians can easily slide into or out of vans according to their needs. This is something we still need to work on with fit-out companies. Importantly, it will also require change management to get the message across.”

“Recently, we have also started sharing half our bucket truck fleet, so we can use them more flexibly.”

How did COVID-19 affect you?

“Not much. People still relied on our network, particularly to work from home, so we still had technicians on the road even during the lockdowns.”

“We did open up shared cars to staff that were not eligible, so they didn’t need to rely on public transport.”

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