For the third year in a row, "job suitability" was listed as the most important factor for commercial fleet managers when making vehicle acquisition decisions. That is according to the National Association of Fleet Administrators’ (NAFA) 2000-Model Year New-Vehicle Acquisition Survey.

Among the other findings of the survey include that 57 percent of commercial fleets surveyed do not have a policy in place for acquiring executive vehicles, and that out of the 42,328 vehicles overseen by the 149 commercial fleets surveyed, 28,661 of those vehicles, or 68 percent of them, were leased vehicles.

Three fleet managers interviewed by Automotive Fleet agreed with the survey results regarding job suitability as a top factor in vehicle acquisition decisions.

When asked what was the most important factor to her when making vehicle acquisition decisions for her fleet, Hope Cribb, purchasing & fleet manager for Security Elevator Co. in King of Prussia, PA, answered, "job suitability, then cost." Cribb oversees 200 vehicles, most of which are Ford Econoline E-250s and E-350s. Cribb said she orders the vans with a bin package.

"Initial cost" came in a close second as a vehicle acquisition factor among commercial fleet managers, according to the survey, with "Safety Record" coming in a close third.

Kevin Greene is fleet buyer for Houghton Mifflin Co. in Boston, and oversees a fleet of mostly DaimlerChrysler minivans. He agreed that job suitability was most important to him. "The ability to transport materials is important," he said. "The drivers often travel across several states."

Michael Orsog, director of corporate transportation for Parker-Hannifin Corp. in Cleveland, OH, also agreed that job suitability was most important. "You need the proper vehicle to do the proper thing," he said. Dependability was also an important factor, said Orsog, who oversees about 800 vehicles, sales cars, primarily comprising mostly Dodge, Ford, and Chevrolet vehicles.

SUVs Account for 4.9% Of Acquired Fleet Vehicles

Regarding the type of vehicle that fleets normally buy, the sport/utility segment was added for the first time this year in NAFA’s survey. Among the commercial fleets surveyed, 2,069 2000-model year sport/utility vehicles were acquired out of a total of 42,328 total vehicles acquired, or 4.9 percent.

The percentage of new alternative-fuel vehicles showed a significant drop, from 13.6 percent to 9 percent, of the commercial fleets in model-year 2000.