Background
For nearly a century, Atlanta Beverage Company has been a staple of the Georgia business landscape. Founded in 1930, this family-owned distributor employs more than 400 people and supports a large, mobile workforce serving retailers across the state. With operations spanning beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages, the company depends on reliable, efficient field teams to maintain strong customer relationships.
As the organization grew, so did the complexity — and risk — associated with supporting those teams through a company-owned passenger fleet.
Challenges
For decades, Atlanta Beverage relied on a company-owned vehicle model to support its sales and distribution teams. While this approach provided consistency, it increasingly exposed the company to financial, legal, and operational risk.
In today’s commercial insurance environment, owning hundreds of passenger vehicles means carrying full liability around the clock, regardless of whether vehicles are being used for business purposes. Rising insurance premiums, claims volatility, and the growing prevalence of high-dollar accident litigation made fleet ownership an unsustainable risk.
Beyond liability, managing a large passenger fleet required ongoing administrative oversight, unpredictable maintenance spending, and limited visibility into driver risk between annual reviews. Leadership recognized the need for a new model, one that removed liability from the balance sheet while still ensuring employees could safely and effectively perform their roles.
The Motus Solution
Atlanta Beverage selected Motus to guide its transition from a company-owned passenger fleet to a Fixed and Variable Rate (FAVR) reimbursement program.
Transitioning Away from Fleet Ownership
Motus supported Atlanta Beverage through a structured passenger fleet transition, helping the organization efficiently divest vehicles while minimizing disruption to drivers. Employees were guided through program onboarding, reimbursement education, and policy changes to ensure continuity throughout the transition.
By eliminating passenger fleet assets, Atlanta Beverage reduced a major source of liability while preserving workforce productivity and morale.
Fair, Compliant Reimbursement with FAVR
The FAVR model reimburses employees for the business use of their personal vehicles based on localized costs for fuel, insurance, depreciation, and maintenance. This ensured fair, IRS-compliant reimbursement across regions while giving the company predictable, auditable reimbursement practices.
Risk Mitigation
To address the liability concerns that initially drove the change, Atlanta Beverage implemented a risk mitigation solution that provides continuous motor vehicle record (MVR) monitoring and automated insurance verification throughout the year, closing gaps left by point-in-time checks and enabling proactive risk management.
The Results
The transition to a FAVR program helped reshape Atlanta Beverage Company’s approach to both risk and cost management. By moving away from company cars, the organization was able to reduce its exposure to corporate liability and avoid an estimated $1 million in claims-related costs.
Instead of assuming risk through asset ownership, Atlanta Beverage now actively manages driver risk through continuous monitoring and compliance visibility. This shift from fleet management to data-driven risk oversight has positioned the company to operate with greater agility, predictability, and security.
The transition also highlighted meaningful savings potential. A full replacement of the company-owned fleet suggested up to $5 million in possible cost reductions, illustrating the broader financial considerations associated with fleet ownership. While a complete transition would typically occur over time, the findings point to a significant opportunity for long-term efficiency.
Conclusion
Atlanta Beverage Company’s evolution from a traditional passenger fleet to a technology-enabled reimbursement and risk management model demonstrates the impact of strategic change. By partnering with Motus, the organization reduced its liability exposure and removed a substantial portion of risk from its balance sheet.
For organizations facing rising fleet risk and insurance pressure, Atlanta Beverage’s experience offers a strong example of how organizations can reduce liability.