It is no secret that the property and management of vehicles will continue to be more expensive for construction companies. What is most difficult to discover is the total cost of property (TCO) and the ways to reduce this amount, especially with the pressures of costs from all directions.
Increasing costs have a cumulative effect
An obvious source of financial tension is the purchase of vehicles. Unfortunately, light trucks such as collection have experienced important costs in recent years. Prices delivered for factory orders have increased 51% Since 2021, while commercial costs of automatic insurance went up in 2024 and do not show signs of fall.
Maintenance is also more and more expensive. A combination of scarcity of labor and supply chain challenges has sent the labor, materials and prices of the parties. Other fleet management costs are more difficult to quantify, but they can affect the bottom line, such as when a truck breaks down, causing start time and non -advance delays.
The time involved in the management of fleets (making decisions of acquisition and maintenance and managing seasonal fluctuations or market) is another invisible cost that adds. “Not many construction companies have staff only dedicated to managing their fleet,” says Billy Dobosz, Deputy President of Enterprise Floet Management. “These decisions usually fall on someone’s shoulders with a number of other responsibilities.
SNAP’s decisions can be cost in an intensive capital industry such as construction, where expenses are financed in advance, but the full payment depends on the completion of the project. Businesses can try to help the cash flow by delaying large expenses such as vehicle purchases. But if an aged truck is total or requires prohibitive cost repair, they are forced to act quickly or risk losing their contract and damaging the company’s reputation.
“With a reactive fleet, they make decisions based on anything that is today,” says Dobosz. “But to be really efficient with your capital, you must have a plan forward.”
3 keys to reduce the costs of the fleet
Possessing all vehicles involves a set of costs and loads, but companies may hesitate to move to rent and rent exclusively in AD hoc. Many contractors do not realize that there are alternative ways to manage their fleet that allow them to access vehicles with less risk and less expense on demand.
Consider the following three tactics, which, when combined, can help reduce your TCO as they increase the efficiency and reliability of the vehicle.
1. Develop a flexible fleet model adapted to your business.
A strategy that allows you to access your company to vehicles through various sources (lease, property and rent) balance the risks and uncertainties of vehicle management. “One of the highest hidden costs of a property model is not to have the right number of vehicles,” says Gordon Welsh, Enterprise Truck Corporate Business Development Responsibility. “Many construction companies have capital linked to assets that do not use efficiently.”
A hybrid plan that includes rents and leases can facilitate cash flow problems by helping a company optimizing its combination of assets. This approach can also increase security, significant consideration in the construction industry: companies can market vehicles in case of retirement or other security problems or use early trade offers in leased vehicles to change for a more recent model with improved safety functions.
Easy access to rents not only allows contractors to overcome the gap during a memory or repair, but also a way to seize short-term and seasonal opportunities that require vehicles for a short period of time.
2. Make maintenance is affordable and perfect.
A complete maintenance program also contributes to security by monitoring maintenance needs and providing preventive maintenance program. It is an important strategy for dealing with hidden property costs.
“A company that manages its own maintenance can pay unnecessary amounts,” says Dobosz. “When they alone, they are missing from the negotiated rates unlocked by the strategic relationships of a mobility partner with maintenance suppliers. It is a typical hidden cost in a property model, because many do not realize that these cost savings are possible.”
With a managed maintenance program, maintenance costs are based on the contract and the repair prices are usually much lower than the sales rates as the members benefit from a larger footprint.
Telematics: Smart equipment control technology incorporated into the vehicle, can improve maintenance costs by giving contractors real -time information about the health and use of the vehicle. This knowledge allows for a proactive approach to maintenance that can lead to less surprise breakdown, better cost control and improvements in the efficiency and overall performance of the fleet.
3. Stop reacting and begins to predict.
With a well -managed fleet, maintenance is preventive and planned, not just a reaction to problems. However, managed maintenance is just an aspect of the proactive management of fleets. Having access to historical data through a mobility partner can help companies more efficiently plan.
“Identifying patterns, we help clients to plan in advance, not just responding to problems,” says Brett Vandermelen, director of North -American truck rental for business mobility. “For example, if some trucks have a higher mileage than others, we recommend ways to change them to stop the amortization and maintenance cycles. Being proactive is cheaper and less intrusive for the long -term business.”
Having access to the proper combination of vehicles and solutions can help companies plan, especially with the right partner. Enterprise comes from experience in the rental business and large amounts of historical data to help companies more efficiently plan. “We are the world’s leading experts in putting the right vehicles into service and maintaining the vehicles in accordance with the road,” says Welsh. “We take what we have learned about the management of a fleet of vehicles in a rental branch and to apply it to our commercial customers.”
Single Partner’s Complete Mobility Solutions
ENTERPRISE is exclusively positioned to support the unique needs of construction companies with a complete range of services and solutions that work perfectly in any necessary combination, be it a complete fleet management, seasonal truck rent or any other need for business mobility. Management of the business fleet Provides Long -Term Leasing, Maintenance and Life Cycle Planning for Property or Rental, whereas Business truck rental It offers flexible access to trucks and vans for short or seasonal needs. Flex-e-Lloguer From Enterprise Truck Rental is designed as a flexible average land between short -term rentals and full leasing management programs.
Although Enterprise has a national reach and access to a wide network of vehicles, customers also enjoy the benefits of a local footprint. “We live and work in the communities of our customers,” says Dobosz. “We understand their goals and goals, what keeps them at night and what is important to them. They know they can call us at any time, because our job is to put the right information in front of us so that they can make the best decision.”
To find out more or discuss your vehicle’s needs with a local expert, go to Enterprise.com.
