“We believe quality information provides the basis for informed decisions that are in the best interest of our clients’ businesses,” Ryder’s Gleason says. “It is difficult to evaluate a number in a vacuum. However, once you understand the true cost of your current practice, you are then able to compare it to that of the available alternatives. New or used? Buy or lease? Maintain internally or outsource? Accept residual risk or not? Good cost information will help in making the right decisions for these important questions.”
“For years, the industry used historical life cycle cost data as a major consideration in making purchasing decisions,” says Joe Puff, vice president of truck technology and maintenance NationaLease. “Typically, that full life-cycle analysis took seven years of data collection to make good informed component selection decisions. Today, with the continuous regulatory changes, hyper-speed technology advancements, and engineering and materials development, we no longer have that proven life cycle data to support these decisions. By the time data is collected and analyzed, many of the components and technology have significantly changed. It is still important to do life cycle analysis but it is every bit as important to select suppliers that stand behind their products and services. When suppliers make design or product mistakes, we still expect the supplier to reasonably stand behind the product, even after warranty periods.”
He goes on to say that the speed of regulatory changes coupled with technology advancements has also shortened many OEMs’ R&D and testing times. “They also don’t have the luxury of seven years of real life data collection to prove their product performance,” he continues. “In recent years, we’ve seen some pretty significant supplier product issues and the way that supplier deals with the problem can and should define the supplier’s level of customer commitment. Finding a true partner supplier that stands behind its products needs to be a significant factor in the purchasing decision.”
TCO & Component purchasing
As for changes in fleet specs related to component purchases, Oak Harbor’s Vander Pol says, “Like every other fleet, the biggest thing we try to improve is fuel economy. We have added more fairings to the trucks and skirts to our 28- and 53-ft. trailers. We had to add them to the 53-ft. for California use, but also found that they help on our pups as well.”
DWS’ Stuart notes that today’s choices are limited because of increased vehicle vertical integration. “For the most part there are limited choices; an air dryer is an air dryer, a fuel filter is a fuel filter, and small items like batteries may be one of the very few options of choice,” he says. “The fact remains that most of the components that have a high impact are pretty good, I’ve had little to no issues with rear ends, transmission, etc., now that most of the parts are designed to be brand-specific.”
When asked what, if any, changes to fleet specs or component purchases they have made recently related to TCO information, Altrichter said only the choice of batteries and tires are affected.
“Getting the right tool for the job is critical—especially considering the cost and operating period of a commercial vehicle,” Ryder’s Gleason adds. “Given the complexity of today’s technology and environment, specifying a truck with limited expertise can be risky business. In addition to determining the proper specifications to meet the specific application, greater focus is now being placed on safety and comfort features, as well as fuel efficiency through engine, transmission and aerodynamic options. After all, fuel and the driver are the two largest costs in operating a commercial vehicle. Ryder’s objective is to use its expertise in optimizing efficiency and safety in a cost effective manner.”
“A thorough duty-cycle needs analysis is critical in selecting the right vehicle, components, and ECM settings. In order to spec the right truck for the application, we need to know a lot more information than we did years ago,” Puff says. “Today, idle time, distance between stops, percent of time fully loaded, electrical and air supply demands, the desire for fuel economy vs. performance, safety technologies, and so on must be considered. There are so many options available to meet these specific duty-cycles and applications. The right selection can save fuel and maintenance costs. The wrong selection can be catastrophic. Some new technologies can save fuel; however, put in the wrong application they can also have a profound negative affect on maintenance costs, even surpassing the fuel efficiency savings.”
