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Mike Antich
Former Editor and Associate Publisher
Automotive Fleet's former editor, Mike Antich, shared his opinions and ideas on the overall commercial fleet industry and draws interesting comments from fleet managers and other industry professionals from across the country. Mike was inducted in the Fleet Hall of Fame in 2010.
Reimbursement has re-emerged as a fleet issue. One reason is that Runzheimer has a rival, which means two competitive sales forces are aggressively selling vehicle reimbursement programs. Also, the recession, corporate downsizing, funding/credit constraints, OEM viability, and economic uncertainty have renewed senior management's desire to re-examine reimbursement.
Read More →In the commercial fleet industry, the most common amortization rate used for establishing a depreciation reserve is 50 months. Recently, some major fleets extended amortization rates on new-vehicle orders.
Read More →Maintenance costs increased in 2009 due to higher cost of replacement tires, PM oil changes, and labor rates. However, the biggest factor was widespread deferment of vehicle replacement, resulting in the operation of older units.
Read More →The new reality of a tighter corporate operating environment has forced fleet managers to pursue two different types of cost-cutting goals - cost deferral and cost elimination. However, many cost-cutting decisions for fleet are made for the short-term, with very little consideration for total cost of ownership. Sometimes senior management is more interested in the fiscal, rather than economic, consequences of their decisions.
Read More →Goldman Sachs was the first to forecast a $100-plus-per-barrel crude oil price when the bank issued a research report last November, which called for a $110-per-barrel average price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude in 2011. Morgan Stanley released a similar report in January and targets $95-per-barrel of WTI futures by December 2010, with an average price of $100 per barrel in 2011.
Read More →In 2009, of every $100 spent on fleet, $5 was consumed by taxes. This compares to $4.10 in 2006 and $3 in 1983. The recession has caused sales and property tax revenues to plummet creating widespread shortfalls in government budget funding. States and other governmental jurisdictions are scrambling to find new ways to generate new tax revenues. Again, commercial fleets are in their cross-hairs.
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