What is a Commercial Fleet?
Introduction
All across the United States businesses utilize commercial fleets to get people and cargo where they need to be.
Commercial fleet vehicles are either owned or leased—there are unique benefits to both options. Companies that provide commercial fleet services companies offer leasing as well as fleet management and maintenance.
Businesses greatly benefit from operating their commercial fleets in an efficient manner. If this can’t be achieved in-house due to budget restraints or a lack of expertise, then leasing via a commercial fleet service provider may be the better option for your business.
What is a Commercial Fleet?
A commercial fleet is a group of vehicles that are utilized by a company in order for it to pursue its business objectives. Commercial fleets are made up of fleet vehicles.
Fleet vehicles are either owned by the business that operates them or leased from a third-party provider. Any type of vehicle can be a commercial fleet vehicle including trucks, cars, buses, vans, and SUVs to name just a few.
Commercial fleets range widely in size—from small (a couple of vans working construction jobs) to large (a massive national plumbing business making use of thousands of vehicles), and everything in between.
Many different types of business operate a commercial fleet.
Commercial Fleet Statistics
Commercial fleets are a big business in the United States. There are hundreds of thousands of commercial fleet vehicles on the road today with more being purchased every month.
To provide a sense of just how integral the commercial fleet industry is to the U.S., we have compiled some statistics.
Number of Vehicles on the Road
A massive number of commercial fleet vehicles are utilized by businesses in the U.S.
As of January 1, 2019, commercial fleets owned 204,000 cars and 1,860,000 trucks. They also leased 431,000 cars and 727,000 trucks. With over three million vehicles in service, the commercial fleet industry in the United States is colossal.
Commercial Fleet Sales in 2020
The number of fleet vehicles in use is large and also growing.
In September 2020, commercial fleet sales from nine major OEMs totaled 58,348. This represents a slight decrease from the same period last year. However, given the uncertainty of the pandemic, it is still quite a strong figure.
Different Types of Commercial Fleets
There are all sorts of commercial fleets as many different types of businesses utilize them.
Some examples of companies that operate commercial fleets include plumbing businesses, electrical companies, shipping companies, construction companies, pest control companies, HVAC companies, telecom companies, waste management firms, and trucking companies—just to name a few.
Fleets can be made up of one uniform vehicle type or include a patchwork of different makes and models. Having only one type of commercial fleet vehicle makes maintenance operations easier, but sometimes specialized vehicles are required for unique tasks.
Owning vs. Leasing Commercial Fleet Vehicles
Businesses need to acquire vehicles in order to build a commercial fleet. The two main ways of getting commercial fleet vehicles are owning and leasing them. Each method has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Benefits of Owning Commercial Fleet Vehicles
Owning vehicles outright provides many benefits, including:
Tax Incentives
Businesses can write off the depreciation of the vehicles they own to save on taxes. However, if you choose to lease, the depreciation tax benefits go to the leasing company.
Vehicle Freedom
When businesses own their commercial fleet vehicles they may remove them from service at any time without penalty. When leasing, you are often obligated to keep vehicles for a set period of time, regardless if your business needs them or not.
Additionally, vehicles you own are not subject to wear and tear or maximum mileage limits like they are when you opt to lease commercial fleet vehicles.
Benefits of Commercial Fleet Services
Leasing companies now often go beyond just providing vehicles to their customers.
Commercial fleet service providers also offer full fleet management and maintenance for business’ fleets. Their expertise can help you better manage your fleet to increase efficiency and lower costs.
Newer Commercial Fleet Vehicles
Leased vehicles are generally new vehicle models. There are a number of benefits to utilizing newer commercial fleet vehicle models, including access to the latest technology and safety features, good fuel economy, and fewer maintenance issues when compared to older models.
New leased vehicles have less mileage on them, fewer repair costs, and lower fuel expenses. Vehicles can also be replaced with the latest models after only a few years with a new leasing contract.
Less Up-Front Capital Required
Commercial fleet services can be hired for a fraction of the cost of purchasing your own vehicles and establishing in-house fleet management and maintenance divisions. These companies have relatively low monthly payment options and let businesses make better use of their capital.
Many small businesses who would not be able to afford their own in-house maintenance department and equipment opt to lease their commercial fleet vehicles.
Leased Vehicles Are Considered Off-Balance Sheet
Purchasing commercial fleet vehicles is a large capital expenditure that can affect a company’s debt-to-equity ratio negatively.
Leasing is a much smaller expense than owning your own vehicles and is generally classified as an off-balance sheet asset. This puts your company in a better financial position when reviewed by investors or potential lenders.
Fewer Administrative Tasks
Leasing a commercial fleet vehicle requires less paperwork than owning one. Businesses that lease their fleet vehicles through commercial fleet services don’t have to worry about time-consuming administrative tasks such as license and tag renewal.
Conclusion
Commercial fleets are utilized by businesses of all types and sizes—from small, three-van electrical companies to large, national telecom businesses employing thousands of vehicles.
Businesses that outsource fleet management and maintenance to commercial fleet service providers benefit from their knowledge, expertise, and favorable leasing agreements. Outsourcing commercial fleet services can also improve the efficiency of your company’s fleet as well as reduce expenses. Whether you have limited resources or simply want to prioritize other aspects of your business, outsourcing your fleet management could be a highly advantageous move for your company.
Fleet Dispatching
Dispatch software is a lifesaver when it comes to organizing your dispatch process and keeping operations streamlined. It offers a variety of features that make daily procedures so much easier, from fleet tracking to reports that help businesses make decisions. What features does dispatch software offer, and how do these features benefit fleets? We will break this down for you.
Assign and Monitor Jobs
It is easy to assign and monitor jobs with dispatch software because it uses fleet tracking. Fleet tracking allows you to assign jobs to crews in the field. If you need a lead technician for a job, it’s simple to attach that lead tech to any job you need. You can even sort jobs based on their status, whether they’re one-time, recurring, or multi-day, or based on urgency.
When workers finish jobs, they can mark the job as complete on their end. This way, you can know when each job concludes and when your technician moves on to their next task.
Easier Communication
Back and forth calls between technicians and managers are no longer a problem. With dispatch software, you simply input the job you want your technicians to address. Your technicians access it from their phones and know what to do from there. When they’re done, they can mark it complete and view their next job right away. They can track their time, update their schedules, and input notes all while on the go. Everything you need to know will be on your screen when you need to know it, no need to track the information down.
Improve Customer Service
Dispatch software can improve your business’s customer service reputation in a variety of ways. Firstly, GPS tracking allows for route optimization software, which gets your technicians to their destinations quickly and efficiently. No more late technicians making your customers wait. Furthermore, dispatch software allows you to assign technicians to customers they already know, building an improved relationship with your business. And with all of your customer information in one place, it’s easy to respond to disputes and issues in a timely and personal manner.
All of your client and order information is available in a field service CRM that details everything you need to know about your customers and the jobs you’ve done for them.
How to Get Dispatch Software
Azuga offers state-of-the-art dispatch software that your business is sure to benefit from every single day. These benefits will improve your fleet’s daily operations, boost customer service, and maximize productivity among your workers. These features and more bring your fleet to its maximum potential, allowing you to focus on making important decisions to help the business grow and thrive. Find out everything you can do with dispatch software by trying out a free demo today. You’re certain to be impressed with the improvements.
Multi-Drop Route Planning
A multi-drop route planner is a process that plans a route for a driver to make more than two deliveries in multiple locations. It uses vehicle routing software to collect and analyze thousands of data points and determine the best delivery route. This route planning software can plan, re-route, and reschedule without causing any danger to the driver, environment, or business. It considers many factors, such as the number of distribution centers, warehouses, or residential areas a driver has to visit, resource availability, and driver safety.
How Does Multi-Drop Route Planning Work?
The route optimization software tracks the vehicle while factoring in when deliveries need to arrive. Of course, a human being should ensure that everything has been planned out properly, but the process should be automatic. Both this person and the system should look at distances, travel time, and fuel consumption.
Once a route is set, the route optimization software compiles data to choose the best vehicle and driver depending on the delivery. It uses data based on the route and the client’s needs. At this point, it also considers the driver’s hours and weather conditions to determine how much time is needed. These systems need to work in real-time to ensure that managers and clients can connect with up-to-date information.
Benefits of Multi-Drop Route Planning
There are various benefits to multi-drop route planning. It maximizes productivity, keeps fuel costs low, promotes driver safety, and helps businesses stay compliant with federal driver hour regulations. Your business will save money by using its drivers effectively and not using as much fuel.
Where to Get Multi-Drop Route Planning Software
If you’re looking for this software, you don’t need to search any further! Azuga’s route optimization software allows for multiple stops. It provides the best routes based on historical data, traffic conditions, weather conditions, and machine learning that helps it create the best routes for you in real-time. See what you can do with route planning software by trying out a demo today!
Fleet Dispatching
If you manage a fleet, you probably already understand the delicate dance that is fleet dispatching. If not, you may not realize just how crucial this process is to the success of any fleet-based business.
What Is Fleet Dispatching?
Simply put, fleet dispatching is the process by which commercial fleet drivers are sent out into the field to make deliveries, service customers, and handle other business-related tasks. But it involves so much more than simply telling drivers, “you go there.” Good fleet dispatching may also involve considerations for traffic conditions, road hazards, driver skill sets, customer preferences, and onboard equipment. When done correctly, it’s a skillful juggling act that helps a business reach its daily goals. When poorly handled, it can be a disaster for all concerned.
What Is a Fleet Dispatcher?
A fleet dispatcher is a person in charge of scheduling and arranging dispatch for a commercial fleet. Small fleets may have a single dispatcher to manage all calls, while larger enterprise fleets may employ an entire team.
A fleet dispatcher must clearly understand schedules and routes, job proficiencies, fuel management, fleet maintenance, and regulations related to hours of service and other fleet compliance issues. A good fleet dispatcher knows the drivers in the fleet well and can anticipate their scheduling needs and which jobs they are most suited to handle. Fleet dispatchers must be masters of communication and have elite organizational skills.
Fleet Dispatch Software from Azuga
Fleet dispatching is as much an art as a science, and it can be overwhelming at times. The best way to support the fleet dispatchers on your team is to give them tools and technology that make the job easier. Fortunately, Azuga offers the answers to all of your fleet dispatching conundrums.
Our GPS Fleet Tracking software can keep track of all the vehicles in your fleet along with large equipment and other assets. Dispatchers can use this information to see which vehicles are nearby when a job pops up. What’s more, we offer top-notch route optimization tools to help guide drivers around road construction, accidents, and other hazards that might prevent them from getting to their destination on time. We can even help you schedule routine maintenance, promote road safety, and automatically deliver dispatch notifications to drivers in the field.
Learn about all the ways Azuga Fleet can help your commercial fleet stay productive and efficient while simplifying maintenance schedules and creating a culture of safety on the road. Schedule an Azuga demo today!