As your business needs change, so should your fleet focus. However, this type of due diligence can slip out of reach as meeting client demands and everyday work expectations become a priority. 

 

Looking past today is critical to avoid compromising your business services – otherwise, costs and downtime can pile up and become difficult to tackle in the future.

 

What could you accomplish with a fleet that is more efficient, more affordable, and still able to meet your customer’s needs?

 

I want to share a real-world example that demonstrates the possibilities.

 

Drowning in Expenses

 

One of our American customers in the water management industry was becoming bogged down with vehicle expenses. Their 1,800 vehicles (ranging from small vehicles to medium and heavy-duty trucks with upfitting) were not driving the profit needed for financial success. With a corporate sourcing initiative calling for cost optimisation within the current fiscal year, they needed a new approach fast.

 

We set to work identifying possible savings conducting a full fleet assessment to find opportunities for change.

 

Draining Unnecessary Costs

 

We needed to act aggressively to meet the needs of this client, as time was of the essence. Once we got our results and met with stakeholders, we moved forward with the goals of:

• Increasing fuel efficiency
• Decreasing maintenance costs
• Eliminating underutilised vehicles for good

First, we remarketed the vehicles that were not serving enough purpose to be valuable to create profit right away. From there, we revisited the client’s annual replacement strategy, replacing 25% of their fleet right away and doubling the yearly replacements for the fleet across the board.

 

We also determined that the client could service their customers just as effectively with smaller vehicles. This reduced acquisition costs upfront and maintenance costs down the line. The client could operate a more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly fleet, which made their customers happy.

 

A New Tide

 

Since making these changes, the client measured more than £1.2 million in savings across the entire fleet. That number will only grow as they operate a newer and more fuel-efficient fleet. And since they doubled the number of annual vehicle replacements, the fleet will stay younger and require less maintenance, leading to less downtime. The client and their senior leadership team have worked with us continuously to contribute more to this project, and the client continues to see a positive return on their investment.

 

Are you considering evolving your approach to replacing vehicles to improve your asset and operating costs? 

 

Download our whitepaper on maximising your fleet supply chain.