Use Management Science not mileage standards to optimize fleet numbers.
Concurrent vehicle usage analysis based on actual utilization data will help to calculate the exact and optimal number of fleet vehicles you require. No more audits with mileage standards, trip counts or industry ‘benchmarks’ that bear little correlation to actual vehicle use.
Imagine what you can save when surplus vehicles are removed from the fleet. Organizations can do more with fewer vehicles and still meet service demand.
Reduce 
Vehicle 
Optimize Concurrent vehicle usage analysis
What is Concurrent Vehicle Usage Analysis?
Concurrent Vehicle Usage analysis identifies the number of vehicles being used at the same time at one location for each department, cost center and vehicle type. The maximum number of vehicles absent at one time indicates the likely number of vehicles required at a site.
Other factors that must be considered before the optimal vehicle count is recommended includes:
- Vehicle destination
- Offsite parking duration
- Route efficiency
- Trip planning
It is critical to understand concurrent vehicle use and the other factors listed above before a fleet size recommendation can be made. Otherwise the findings will not be credible or defensible at implementation time.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Any methodologies that use a vehicle allocation methodology [VAM] that incorporates Vehicle Mileage Traveled [VMT] or historic ratios completely ignore the commonsense factors listed above.
Implementations of such audits almost always encounter Manager, staff and at times union resistance. An implementation stalemate is common and the organization is unlikely to attempt an audit again for some time.
Learn from the experience of others. Think carefully about taking this shortcut. Can you defend the results at the end? Without reliable individual trip data … the answer is always no.
How to Apply Concurrent Usage Analysis?
BFO uses utilization graphs generated by QueryBuilder to analyze concurrent usage and demand patterns.
The graphs allow you to calculate the number of vehicles needed for a department, cost center or site by vehicle type.
Simply count the maximum number of vehicles in use at the same time. The figure is the maximum number of vehicle required at that site before seasonality and efficiency factors are considered.
The utilization graph confirms the fact that you do not need to install permanent GPS units to optimize vehicle fleets. Utilization patterns are consistent across the 5-weeks snapshot period indicating that the:
- Audit period used as best practice for more than 25 years is valid and
- Marginal utilization knowledge gain from a second month of GPS data collection is almost zero.
Note that Concurrent Usage Analysis can be adapted to fit any mission, office, facility, program, occupational group or other entity within your organization or Agency.
