Archive for Private Fleet
The traditional definition of a private fleet is a fleet of vehicles owned by a company to conduct business. When supply chain folks hear the term they tend to think of a fleet of large trucks with trailers hauling goods from the manufacturer’s distribution center (DC) to the retailer’s DC. But other types of fleets exist as well: smaller trucks used to install new products for project-based supply chains; maintenance vans… Continue reading
The Plug-in Hybrid Electric Private Fleet
· CommentsThe focus for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) has been passenger cars, specifically cars used for commuting. General Motors, for example, plans to come out with the Chevy Volt in 2011. The idea is that you plug in the car overnight and then you can drive it for up to 40 miles. After that, the Volt kicks over to a gasoline-powered generator that can extend the range for hundreds… Continue reading
Google Maps Navigation and Private Fleets
· CommentsGoogle is shaking up the GPS and navigation industry with some recent announcements. For example, Google is developing a map database to compete with the routing and navigation maps provided by NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas.
The company also announced it is offering a free turn-by-turn (TBT) navigation app with its Android 2.0-based smart phones (see video below and click here for more info and screenshots). Android… Continue reading
The Tax-Efficient Truck Fleet
· CommentsI wrote an article for Supply Chain Management Review earlier this year called the Tax Efficient Supply Chain. If you have a North American based private fleet, part of having a tax efficient supply chain is making sure you don’t overpay on your International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) taxes.
IFTA is an agreement among all states (except Alaska and Hawaii) and Canadian provinces (except Nunavut and Yukon) to… Continue reading
Private vs. Dedicated Fleets
· CommentsI recently had a discussion with Gary Petty, President of the National Private Truck Council (NPTC), and Gary Girotti, Vice President of Chainalytics’ transportation practice, about private and dedicated fleets.
Why do companies have a private fleet? According to a survey by NPTC, eighty nine percent of the respondents cited “to achieve better customer service to key customers” as the primary reason. Cost reduction and improved flexibility… Continue reading
Otis Elevator’s Maintenance Supply Chain
· CommentsWhen we think of a supply chain, we tend to think of a chain of activities that starts with sourcing, then manufacturing, and ends with goods arriving at a store. When we think of a logistics fleet, we tend to think of big trucks hauling goods between plants, distribution centers, and stores. Otis Elevator Company has a nontraditional supply chain, a project-based maintenance supply chain, supported by a nontraditional… Continue reading
Don’t Neglect Fleet Maintenance!
· CommentsMany private fleets have to justify their existence versus for-hire carriers every few years. Better service and cost competitiveness are the key justifications for keeping a fleet. A private fleet manager is often responsible for both operations (the drivers and fleet planners) and fleet maintenance. Achieving strong performance on the cost-per-mile-driven metric requires not just better routing, more backhauls, better trailer utilization, and so forth, but also having fewer truck… Continue reading
Benchmarking a Private Truck Fleet
· CommentsThe National Private Truck Council (NPTC), a U.S. trade association focused on the interests of companies with private fleets, conducts an annual Private Fleet Benchmarking Survey. This survey has three goals: (1) to validate private fleet performance based on comparative peer data; (2) identify areas of improvement and opportunity; and (3) identify the significant trends affecting private fleet operators.
In many cases, benchmarking data is difficult to use—i.e… Continue reading
