As a fleet manager, you’ve likely heard of right-sizing, but you may not know exactly what it means. While right-sizing is often associated with negative connotations, it actually helps you achieve a more well-designed fleet that is optimal for your operations. Right-sizing isn’t just about reducing costs, it’s about creating the most cost-efficient fleet for your needs. It can also help you develop a plan to determine your commercial vehicle leasing needs. Therefore, it’s essential to understand what right-sizing is, its benefits, how to right-size, and how it will help you choose the right fleet leasing options. Here is a brief guide to right-sizing for fleet managers.
What is Right-Sizing?
Unfortunately, right-sizing has earned a bad rap over the years. It’s often associated with downsizing and higher burdens on fleet managers and drivers. However, it helps you choose the fleet leasing options you need to make your operations efficient. Whatever you do to make your fleet more efficient is right-sizing, whether that means downsizing or upgrading.
The fundamental idea behind right-sizing is the question “is my fleet optimal for my operation?” It encompasses every aspect of your fleet, from number, type, size, class, and availability of your vehicles. Therefore, to right-size, you will need to evaluate many different factors to determine if your fleet is optimal. This can help simplify the commercial vehicle leasing selection process, as well as provide other key benefits to your fleet.
Benefits of Right-Sizing and Commercial Vehicle Leasing
One of the main reasons that fleets decide to right-size is because of the cost savings advantages. First, you can save a lot on your commercial vehicle leasing by ensuring that your fleet is the right size for your operations.
Commercial Vehicle Leasing, Maintenance, and Other Savings
In many cases, if a fleet hasn’t right-sized, you may have too many or too few vehicles, which can affect your company’s bottom line. In addition to the cost of fleet leasing, you also need to account for fuel, maintenance, and repair costs. Generally, if you have too many vehicles in your fleet, you may end up spending a lot more on these factors. Even just one extra vehicle needs regular preventative maintenance, like oil changes, tire rotations, and other services. The money you spend on this vehicle doesn’t just add up, it is money you could be spending somewhere else more effectively. For example, the maintenance costs from extra vehicles could go toward a fund to help you market your business and gain more clients. So, consider getting rid of vehicles that no longer pull their weight or are costing you unnecessary expenses.
In addition to the number of vehicles in your fleet, you should also right-size for the types of vehicles you use. This also often results in cost savings for your fleet. For example, if you are using smaller vehicles, it may seem like you will reduce fuel costs. However, the commercial vehicle leasing options you choose must be able to handle your applications.
While sedans tend to be lightweight and therefore have better gas mileage, they may not be the best option for your company. If you primarily use your vehicles for transporting large amounts of goods, sedans can only hold a small number of products. Therefore, choosing this type of vehicle for your fleet is likely not the right solution, as your drivers will have to take more trips to do the same amount of transporting. This can lead to excess fuel costs, longer lead time, and increased repair and maintenance costs.
Reduce Emissions
Another benefit of right-sizing your fleet is that it helps your fleet be more environmentally friendly. Generally, if you can find the equilibrium between your fleet leasing options and your needs, you can reduce your company’s greenhouse gas emissions. To do so, make sure you right-size your fleet vehicles’ weight, fuel economy, and capabilities to your applications. For example, an easy way to right-size your fleet to be more environmentally-friendly is to try lighter vehicles in the same class. This can generally help reduce your fleet’s emissions without sacrificing your fleet’s ability to perform its duties. Therefore, consider lightweight commercial vehicle leasing options to reduce emissions and help save on fuel costs.
How do You Right-Size?
Now that we know what right-sizing is and what the advantages are, how do you right-size your fleet? This will require some detailed information about your fleet and each individual vehicle. First, gather information about each vehicle’s type, average mileage, payload, fuel economy, and daily usage. Using this information, you’ll be able to identify areas of improvement for your fleet. Next, you’ll need to ask yourself some questions about your fleet. This will make it easy to right-size your fleet and choose the right fleet leasing options for you.
To properly right-size, ask yourself the following questions about each vehicle in your fleet:
- Which tasks does this vehicle accomplish?
- What is the daily, weekly, and monthly mileage of the vehicle?
- Is this vehicle the right type, class, and size for the job it performs?
- Does this vehicle fulfill its purpose and is it cost-effective to keep it in the fleet?
- How much use and downtime does the vehicle have?
- What is the age of the vehicle?
- How much fuel does the vehicle consume?
After you have answered these questions, it should become clear which vehicles you should keep, get rid of, and upgrade.
As you can see, this dive into the particulars of your fleet can help you evaluate each vehicle to ensure it makes sense to keep it around. Therefore, be sure you keep your fleet data up-to-date and accurate. This will make right-sizing easy.
How Often Should I Right-Size?
Additionally, try to right-size regularly. It will be easier to right-size a fleet that is frequently evaluated for efficiency. By contrast, if you’ve never right-sized, you will likely need to spend a little longer to determine which vehicles are optimal for your fleet.
Right-sizing can be especially important after changes to your fleet’s operations or before you look at commercial vehicle leasing options for your company. For example, if your fleet is busier than ever, it may be time to right-size to ensure that you have enough vehicles to keep up with demands.
While many fleet managers associate right-sizing with downgrading or skimping on vehicles to save money, this isn’t the case. You should be right-sizing on a regular schedule as well as every time your operations change significantly. If you’ve recently added other services that your fleet performs, you should right-size to ensure your fleet can adequately handle the new demands. This may be adding a few more vehicles or changing the types of vehicles your fleet is comprised of.
Additionally, right-sizing can help you have an accurate plan when you are looking to add or upgrade your fleet vehicles. Since right-sizing helps you really evaluate your fleet’s needs, it can also help you make the best choices for any changes you’re planning, such as leasing a new vehicle. So, you should also right-size any time you are considering commercial vehicle leasing for your fleet.
Choosing the Best Commercial Vehicle Leasing Options for Your Fleet
Before talking to your fleet leasing provider, it’s important to understand exactly what your needs are. Therefore, right-sizing right before you plan to lease your commercial vehicles can help you improve your fleet. Knowing exactly what you need for a fleet that is optimal for your operations will make commercial vehicle leasing much easier. While it may seem like a large undertaking, right-sizing is just taking a strong look at how you can improve your fleet.
Therefore, consider right-sizing before looking at vehicles to lease for your fleet. This will help you choose the right number of vehicles, as well as the best type and class for your activities. Right-sizing helps you create a plan and understand your fleet inside and out for the best outcomes for your fleet. In addition to right-sizing, choose a fleet leasing provider who will help you select the best options for your fleet.
At Glesby Marks, we have over 39 years of fleet management experience. We can provide you with the fleet solutions you need. We offer a full line of leasing and management services to help you save more and create a more efficient fleet. Our team provides flexible and ideal options for fleets across the nation. We maintain strong relationships with the most important suppliers and vendors in the industry. Therefore, in addition to our dedication to high quality fleet leasing options, we also provide reliable services as the lowest possible price. When you work with Glesby Marks for commercial vehicle leasing, you work with a team that is in your corner and committed to your fleet’s success. Call us today at (800) 482-9498 to learn more or to speak to one of our fleet experts. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you.