Despite their many benefits, fleet vehicles can be a headache for business owners.

Fleet vehicles are an excellent way to improve the speed and efficiency of transportation and other company logistics, but they can also have hidden costs associated with them. Managing a vehicle fleet is a balancing act of price and value that needs to be monitored closely to ensure the success of your business.

Fuel

Fuel is likely going to be the biggest expenditure associated with any fleet of vehicles. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average vehicle consumes about 684 gallons of gasoline each year. That can add up quickly if you have a large fleet of trucks or vans. Since it’s not something you can control, tracking fuel consumption will allow you to determine how much fuel was used for each vehicle and what the average cost per mile is. This data will help you make informed decisions about how much to budget for gasoline.

Employee Wages

Driver wages are an important consideration when overseeing a fleet of logistical vehicles. A lot of companies will use a driver wage calculator to determine the value of their drivers, but that may vary based on a number of factors from location to productivity level.

Many companies have started to use telematics solutions to monitor the performance of their fleets, which enables them to keep track of how much fuel is being used by each vehicle and how many miles are being driven by each driver. This allows them to get a more accurate idea of what kind of salary they need to pay each individual employee in order to keep their fleet running smoothly.

Maintenance and Repair

The cost of maintaining and repairing large fleets of vans or trucks can be very costly. This is especially true when you consider that the ripple effects of a single-vehicle malfunction can affect your entire fleet. When you’re responsible for multiple vehicles, the costs associated with each breakdown rapidly add up. That’s why it’s important to monitor your mechanic fees and make sure they’re not getting out of control.

If you find yourself paying for more frequent repairs than usual, this could indicate that something needs to be replaced or repaired sooner than expected—and those costs will compound quickly. The price of parts alone can tally up fast, especially if you need to restore an entire engine or transmission. Plus, there are also labor charges to consider, along with the toll of downtime while repairs are being made.

Procurement of Replacement Vehicles

Fleet vehicle replacement is incredibly expensive. For example, if you have ten trucks and wish to upgrade them, you can expect to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. This cost includes the price of the actual vehicles, along with any necessary upgrades and repairs that need to be made before they can be put into service.

Thankfully, fleet vehicle purchases can come with bulk rebates, discounts, or other special offers. These may help lower the overall price of the vehicle in order to make it more affordable for your company.

Insurance Coverage

When you’re in charge of a fleet of vehicles, you want to make sure they are properly insured. This can be a challenge because it’s hard to predict what will happen, making it difficult to know what type of coverage to get. You should always make sure that your insurance policy covers any vehicles that are part of your fleet.

The best way to do this is to get a commercial auto policy from your current provider, or with another provider if necessary. This type of policy will cover all kinds of damage and liability that might happen while an employee is driving one of your fleet trucks. It will also cover any injuries caused by accidents involving these vehicles.

Efficiency Enterprises can help you with your fleet planning and management. Let us be your partner and do the heavy lifting for you! Contact us today for your consultation.