Auto Fleet Market Trends Blog

January 4, 2010

Barring the occurrence of unforeseen calamities beyond our control, here are my predictions as to how current fleet industry trend lines will play out in the next 12 months.

Tags: 2010 predictions, depreciation, fuel, Maintenance, replacement tires, state of the industry

October 19, 2009

Fuel costs, the largest fleet operating expense, declined dramatically in the 2009 calendar-year due to a sharp decline in worldwide fuel consumption. Also, many fleets downsized, due to widespread corporate layoffs, which lowered overall fuel spend. However, maintenance and repair costs increased in 2009, primarily due to vehicles kept in service for longer periods as a result of corporations slashing capital expenditures. Open the blog for a forecast of 2010 operating cost trends.

Tags: fleet operating costs, fuel, survey

June 29, 2009

The ongoing volatility of gasoline prices has prompted a growing number of fleets to transition to four-cylinder engines. This transition started in the 2008-MY and accelerated with 2009-MY ordering, when gas prices surpassed $4 per gallon in the summer of 2008. Early indications are that the migration to four-cylinder engines will continue with 2010-MY ordering. We have already seen glimpses of this trend in the 2010 RFPs submitted to major OEMs.

Tags: 2009-MY, 2010-MY, fleet ordering, four-cylinder engines, fuel, six-cylinder engines

May 4, 2009

Vehicles get better fuel mileage when not loaded with unnecessary weight. An extra 100 lbs. in a vehicle could reduce mpg up to 2 percent. Typically, the chief culprit responsible for accumulating unnecessary weight is drivers. Over the course of a vehicle assignment, drivers accumulate a "cargo" of dated sales materials, point of sale demos, and seldom-used tools carried in trunks, storage bins, and back seats. You'd be surprised how quickly lbs. add up.

Tags: Cargo, extra weight, Fleet Diet, fuel, trunk weight, unnecessary weight

April 13, 2009

Key factors that influenced medium-duty truck operating costs in 2008 were the price of diesel, increased repair costs related to new truck technologies, higher labor rates, and decreased utilization. However, fuel was the primary driver behind higher operating costs in the 2008 calendar-year.

Tags: 2008-CY, fuel, Maintenance, medium-duty truck operating costs, operating costs, repair costs

January 6, 2009

When looking ahead to the next 12 months, I foresee reduced operating costs for fleets offset by increased depreciation expense caused by anemic resale values and decreased incentive monies. Here’s why I believe this will be the case, along with other predictions for 2009.

Tags: 2009, depreciation, forecast, fuel, operating costs, predictions, Resale Value

November 17, 2008

Fuel prices hit record highs. The cost of financing a fleet doubles. Used-vehicle values plummet. Dealers are unable to sell the vehicles they have in inventory. Geopolitically, the U.S. is embroiled in war and the macro-economy teeters on recession. If you think I'm talking about 2008, think again. The year was 1973.

Tags: 1973 oil embargo, Arab Oil Embargo, Credit Crisis, credit gridlock, fuel, recession, stock market crash

November 4, 2008

The recent drop in fuel prices has been as breathtaking as the earlier run-up in prices. If sustained, these reduced fuel prices will begin to make a dent in overall fleet fuel expenditures. However, there is the risk that lower prices may bring about driver complacency. A large part of fleet fuel expense is controlled by drivers. Many of the hard-won increases in fleet mpg can be negated by drivers reverting to less fuel-efficient driving behaviors.

Tags: driver complacency, fleet fuel expense, fuel, fuel-efficient driving

October 10, 2008

The number one threat to fleets continues to be the price of fuel, despite the fact that fuel prices have been declining due to the global economic slowdown. Year-to-date, the cost of fuel has increased 30 percent in 2008 compared to 2007. The Energy Information Administration is projecting fuel to average $3.82 per gallon in calendar-year 2009. Fuel is the potential game changer of the fleet industry. Consider two recent examples as harbingers of things to come.

Tags: fuel, Hurricanes, hyperconnectivity, telework, videoconferencing

October 3, 2008

Reducing unnecessary idling is the simplest and easiest way for a fleet to reduce fuel costs. Besides wasting fuel, excess idling also causes unnecessary emissions, noise pollution, and needless engine wear-and-tear. The amount of unnecessary idling varies by fleet, but some fleets have recorded idling as much as 35 percent of the time.

Tags: fuel, fuel spend, idling, unnecessary idling

September 9, 2008

When fuel prices crossed the $3.25 per gallon threshold, fleets began looking for ways to downsize vehicles or opt to four-cylinder engines.This trend is reinforced by corporate sustainability initiatives and/or fuel spend/GHG reduction programs. The shift to four-cylinder engines is broad-based and includes many of the nation’s largest fleets. One consequence to this increased demand for four-cylinder models is that fleets have increased their purchases of import-badged vehicles.

Tags: downsizing vehicles, fuel, import-badged vehicles, new-vehicle fleet orders

August 12, 2008

Fleets are adopting compensatory strategies to offset high fuel costs. These include selector modification, revised vehicle specs, increased personal use charges, streamlined fleet operations, and modification of driver behavior.

Tags: fuel, fuel expense, reduce spend

May 19, 2008

After 8,000 hours of research, more than 11,000 facts pertinent to the fleet industry have been collected for this year’s Automotive Fleet Fact Book. Within this wealth of data, one overriding fact stands out with klieg-light intensity – the impact of the high cost of fuel.

Tags: Cost of Business, fuel

February 7, 2008

Overall operating costs for commercial fleets increased 3 percent, on average, in calendar-year 2007. The increased expense was directly attributable to the cost of fuel. The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline increased almost 7 percent over the record-high prices in 2006.

Tags: Diesel, fuel, selector