
In today’s era of tight budgets, truck fleet managers are using innovative ways from rightsizing to decreasing maintenance costs to shortcycling to save money and boost efficiency.
In today’s era of tight budgets, truck fleet managers are using innovative ways from rightsizing to decreasing maintenance costs to shortcycling to save money and boost efficiency.
Should the innovators of today, the market leaders of the next generation, create mobility based upon antiquated fuel? The long-term answer is no, but until then, we can’t hide our heads in the sand. There continue to be legitimate fleet concerns about going green. We can’t hope to truly “green” corporate America’s fleets (beyond simply being public relations statements) until these issues are resolved.
Every fleet manager is feeling the pressure to reduce costs. The best place to have maximum impact is to reduce overall fleet size and/or modify vehicle composition. A fleet's total cost is directly proportional to the total number of vehicles in operation, which drives all fixed and operating costs, such as fuel, replacement tire expenses, depreciation, accident repair costs, etc. If you can reduce overall fleet size, all other cost categories will decrease correspondingly.
Many of the challenges facing U.S. fleet managers are identical to the challenges facing your counterparts managing fleets elsewhere in the world. Many of these fleet trends extend beyond the U.S. and are offshoots of much larger global trends. Oftentimes, best practices in fleet management emerge from outside the U.S., which is good reason for you to familiarize yourself with what's occurring in other global fleet markets.
In today’s lean economy, fleet managers have fewer resources and greater demands on their time, staff, and vehicles. Surviving these tough times includes managing stress and looking for the “upside” to the down economy.
There’s a direct correlation between vehicle weight, fuel economy, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ultimately, the fleet application dictates vehicle size. But when it is possible to do so, right-sizing vehicles reduces fuel consumption, which, in turn, reduces GHG emissions. Right-sizing is a complex strategy that goes far beyond simply downsizing to a smaller class of vehicle.
Right-sizing and downsizing, use of alternative fuels, and the increased use of fleet management companies are a few of the current trends seen in the vocational work truck fleet segment.
Downsizing to a smaller truck or van can improve your total cost — if you can afford the downgrade in capabilities.
Smart companies recognize the value of company vehicles, whether they’re strictly utilitarian or compensatory. It is critical, however, not to let vehicle inventory get out of hand. Right-sizing is a difficult, but necessary task.
Truck fleet fuel saving strategies include right-sized vehicles, alt-fuel use, and driver education.
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