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What data are needed to estimate the full cost of operation per KM run of vehicle? How could you this information in Administration of vehicle fleet?

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Question added by Md Fazlur Rahman , Procurement Specialist , Engineering and Planning Consultants Ltd
Date Posted: 2017/01/27
Virgilio Paralisan
by Virgilio Paralisan , Workshop Facilitator/Consultant , The Workshops

I am assuming that you are already gathering maintenance data in terms of mileage (for example, lubricants per given number of kilometers or miles, liters of fuel to miles or kilometers, etc.). If the fleet has existed and has run for at least a year, you should already have log sheets of departure, return, stops, peg to time elapsed and distance. If you have GPS systems in place per vehicle, you should be able to overlay traffic data, date, time, against planned route.

 

You have not indicated what is the purpose of the fleet, so I will be making assumptions. Since you are attempting to break down cost according to per kilometer metrics it means that your daily route covers a pre-defined route or destination or covering a limited geographical area on a daily basis.

 

You have to establish three baselines in terms of average distance per given trip. Take data on the following:

  1. Data 1: Average distance per trip on weekends and check how long it took to get to a certain point.
  2. Data 2: Average distance per trip on heavy traffic and check how long it took to get to a certain point.(Take note of the length of idle time as indicated in your logsheets. Check if you are requiring driver to log their location every 10, 15 or 30 minutes if you have no GPS data.)
  3. Data 3: Average distance per trip on alternative routes chosen to avoid heavy traffic and check how long it took to get to a certain point. You can use the average distance per hour or minute depending on how you want to reflect cost. Taxi fleets use per minute while heavy equipment fleets use per hour. (I always find alternative routes as a standard operating procedure because I am also responsible for Executive Protection which always requires this. I factor in extra fuel for this purpose.)

If you have a spreadsheet, you can use the cost of your fuel, lubricants and other maintenance on the premise that there is cost every time every vehicle starts its engine. You also need to factor in man-hour costs including overtime of drivers and their assistant (for delivery vans). 

 

You have to decide if you are using per kilometer or per hour as a factor. Usually, for Data 1 and Data 3, I use per kilometer data. In Data 2, I use per hour since any normal trip if delayed for an hour, I already consider a heavy traffic route. 

 

If you are in finance you will probably factor in economic life, replacement value, insurance, and depreciation. If you are at operating level, cost per mile (per kilometer) or per hour will be your most critical concern

 

How do you use the three sets of data for operations?

  1. Data 1 is use as a control data as a means of comparison for Data 2 and Data 3.
  2. Data 2 I used so I can have a factor to calculate additional costs in the event I have no choice but to use a heavy traffic route. If I had a choice, I usually avoid deliveries or trips in heavy traffic areas and only go through them when the traffic is less. This only works if you have control of time. This may work for same-day deliveries. If you are transporting people on a schedule this could entail more planning. This data you can provide to those who organize trips for people and to your colleagues who will be billing customers for trips made.
  3. Data 3 I used for calculating the costs for normal trips that are not time-sensitive and in which the cost per trip cannot be adjusted.

This data only make sense if you are actually mapping and planning trips. If you have a person responsible for planning traffic, this data will make sense in establishing daily trips and routes and reporting cost accordingly. If you are deliberately gathering data on a per trip basis, these data will be easy to gather and collate in a spreadsheet.

 

If you already have all the data above, I suggest you get a map of the city and divide the map into quadrants. Locate your HQ or the central departing point of your fleet and mark it on the map as a center of the quadrant. In this way, you can visualize all trips emanating from the center of that map. When I was responsible for deliveries of ordered items from a retail computer shop, this is how I divided my geographical market.

 

The map will also tell you if the data in your log sheets are actually real data. Drivers tend to log trips at the end of the trip and not during their stops. You may have to institute discipline if you use log sheets. Log sheets are also useful during traffic accidents and the legal problems that come as a consequence.

 

I located the buildings of customers under Business Purchases and residences of Personal Purchases. I color coded them. I mark with a highlighter the routes with heavy traffic and the time or duration of heavy traffic. Heavy traffic starts at 7:00 AM to 10:00 am. I always send the delivery vans to the last and farthest distance from the center and instruct drivers to work their way back. Usually, they have completed more than half of the deliveries before they hit the heavy traffic areas on their way back.

 

Remember, the data will work only if supported by a well-establish record keeping in maintenance hours and costs, man-hours, traffic patterns, and average net distance per trip.

 

It took me at least a year of data to establish averages and baseline. It took me another year to fine tune the record keeping to at least get the most relevant and accurate data on cost, kilometers, traffic, and man-hours. In construction, this is easier to gather since construction work has project management software to collate these data as part of monitoring project progress.

 

This is how I use the data in administration:

  1. I use it to evaluate the efficiency of the driver in using planned routes or making adjustments to planned routes because you have a data to compare with.
  2. Many times, I have identified unauthorized trip because of spikes in the cost of the trip.
  3. It puts the responsibility of managing cost to the driver once they are told of the cost per trip that is acceptable.
  4. It helps you teach the drivers how to drive properly to conserve fuel. A good driver can be distinguished by his efficiency in managing acceleration/deceleration by controlling revolutions per minute (RPM). You can start comparing cost per trip between drivers using the same route.
  5. You can provide customer service or marketing, a more accurate data on cost per trip or cost of delivery.
  6. Finance will be able to relate to you better if you are able to maintain data gathering and updating graphs of costs of fleet operations.
  7. Your immediate boss tends to question your budget less if you have this data. You can easily justify maintenance of spare parts or supplies if you have a fairly accurate data of when you need them.

simon Toyiring
by simon Toyiring , REGIONAL SALES MANAGER NORTH ZONE 1 , FAREAST MERCANTILE NIGERIA LTD

1. USE FIXED VEHICLE OPERATING COST LIKE (A) COST OF VEHICLE OWNERSHIP(B)COST OF LICENSE OWNERSHIP(C)ROAD TAX (D)VEHICLE INSURANCE COST etc......

2.USE VEHICLE OPERATING COST LIKE(A)FUEL COST(B)COST FOR TIRES(C)MAINTENANCE COST(D)REPAIR COST etc........

YOU CAN USE THE COMPONENTS OF FIXED AND VARIABL COST TO CALCULATE THE OPERATING COST PER KM OF VEHICLE.

Manasa Kaslekar
by Manasa Kaslekar , Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist , Smyth and Bradshaw

This is not my expertise field to respond..

Manzoor Alam
by Manzoor Alam , Director , 7th Sky Travel & Tourism Services (Pvt.) Limited

I will prefer to go with Mr. Virgilio's answer that has been explained well.

Omar Saad Ibrahem Alhamadani
by Omar Saad Ibrahem Alhamadani , Snr. HR & Finance Officer , Sarri Zawetta Company

Thanks

I have not enough experience in this field, i will wait with you for more answers

Regards

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