Fleet Advantage: New data index helps find 'sweet spot' for equipment replacement

Fleet business analytics company Fleet Advantage unveiled its new data index resource designed to compare "all-in" costs of older model year Class 8 trucks and calculate the savings of new model replacements.   

"We thought it would be helpful if we released a periodic index so that fleet operators know more about current costs related to replacing equipment — this can help them identify the 'sweet spot'" of when new equipment would save overall costs vs. what fleets are running currently, says John Rickette, vice president of transaction management at Fleet Advantage.

According to Fleet Advantage, "all in" means taking into account operating costs of fuel, finance, maintenance and repair, and tires. The index calculates that companies would save about $18,000 per truck in the first year by upgrading from a 2011 to a 2017 model year day cab or sleeper truck while reducing CO2 emissions by 14%.

*Based on 100,000 miles per year and average price of diesel of $2.08/gal.

"We put together this simple matrix to showcase for fleet operators how big an impact lifecycle management can have," Rickette tells Fleet Owner. "It's developed out of our proprietary ATLAAS system, which stands for Advanced Truck Lifecycle Administrative Analytics Software. We want to continually show, using current figures, what 'all-in' costs of equipment would be."

Rickette contends this will be increasingly important for fleet operators as new 2017 models arrive with higher fuel efficiency and also with upcoming GHG Phase II regulations spelling out fuel efficiency and emissions improvements in the years to come. "Getting past the 'sticker shock' of brand-new equipment costs, even though your [per-truck] finance costs might go up $100 or $200 a month, that's going to be much more offset by the reduction in fuel and maintenance/repair costs," he says.