As last-mile fleets have learned, flexibility is crucial in meeting customer demands, particularly as surges wane and wax throughout the year:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Have the right number of vehicles to meet demand.<\/strong> For last-mile fleets, the number of vehicles you need is a moving target. Having flexible terms that allow you to easily right size your fleet\u2014either by scaling up or de-fleeting\u2014ensures you do not pay for long-term assets you only need during peak seasons.<\/li>\n
- Flexible terms.<\/strong> Does your provider allow you to easily extend terms or return vehicles early? If you keep vehicles on the road for an extended period, are they able to accommodate a conversion to longer-term leases that can give you a better rate?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
While owning or leasing are traditionally the way fleets handle vehicle acquisitions, as the surge in demands continues, you may need to add flexibility into your acquisition strategy. Using rentals to supplement your base fleet is a way to maximize flexibility \u2014 allowing you to scale up and\/or de-fleet quickly to meet demand. And you may find that a combination of rental, leasing, and purchasing is a better mix than leasing or owning alone \u2014 at least for the short term.<\/p>\n
#2. Take a Holistic Look at Your Operations to Find Ways to Drive Down Costs<\/strong><\/p>\n
To meet customer expectations of efficient deliveries at an affordable cost, last-mile fleets have had to find\u00a0ways to control costs. As the authors of the Deloitte report, \u201cLast mile delivery after COVID-19: A world of things to solve,\u201d observed \u201c\u2026the longstanding concern about how delivery costs put pressure on margins will remain. Customers aren\u2019t willing to pay too much for delivery of relatively inexpensive products\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
It’s a point well taken, and certainly one that traditional fleets are likely grappling with.<\/p>\n
However, there are a number of ways fleets can cut or control costs while still meeting customer demands, for example:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Take advantage of remarketing<\/strong>. Selling vehicles to a remarketing group for a guaranteed, up-front price can get you cash quickly.<\/li>\n
- Consider sale and lease back<\/strong>. For companies that own their vehicles, selling vehicles and leasing them back immediately can improve cash flow.<\/li>\n
- Optimize driver routes<\/strong>. Leverage GPS tracking to find the most efficient routes so drivers achieve more with fewer miles.<\/li>\n
- Reinforce positive driving behaviors<\/strong>. Modify behaviors like hard braking and speeding by using driver scorecards. It can cut maintenance costs, save fuel, and avoid crashes.<\/li>\n
- Streamline fleet administration<\/strong>. Utilizing fleet management software with features like exception reporting and alerts can make it easier to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As these examples illustrate, there are many ways to control costs while maximizing efficiency. It requires scrutinizing every aspect of the operation and having a willingness to engage in out-of-the-box thinking in some cases.<\/p>\n
#3. Embrace a Proactive & Innovative Mindset<\/strong><\/p>\n
Because last-mile delivery is experiencing explosive growth and more fleets are, by necessity, adopting this model\u2014you need a partner who is thinking ahead and can think and act differently to address and solve your business challenges now and for the future.<\/p>\n
These aren\u2019t cookie cutter times, so you don\u2019t need cookie cutter solutions. Perhaps the biggest lesson that can be learned from last-mile delivery fleets is that every operation is different and needs an individualized approach to meet the specific challenges of the market it serves.<\/p>\n
To learn more about how to adopt a last-mile mindset, contact Merchants Fleet online<\/a>, \u00a0call 866.653.2737, or email leasecontact@merchantsfleet.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
by John Cail, Senior Vice President of Mobility<\/p>\n
Source: https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/04\/nueva-ley-auditoria.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n
FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There can be little argument that COVID-19, at least in the short-term, has resulted in a seismic shift in the way many businesses serve their customers. When the pandemic hit and lockdowns occurred across the economy \u2014 shuttering retail and business establishments of all sizes \u2014 businesses and the fleets that served them had to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[35],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8313,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8311\/revisions\/8313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Consider sale and lease back<\/strong>. For companies that own their vehicles, selling vehicles and leasing them back immediately can improve cash flow.<\/li>\n
- Flexible terms.<\/strong> Does your provider allow you to easily extend terms or return vehicles early? If you keep vehicles on the road for an extended period, are they able to accommodate a conversion to longer-term leases that can give you a better rate?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n