So, you have a fleet of vehicles. How do you know that you're receiving a fair price on vehicle acquisition? How do you know when the optimal time to replace each car might be? Such are common questions that can be answered by understanding a vehicle's life-cycle cost. Knowing the details of saving money on operating a fleet of vehicles is the job of a fleet professional, but can also be helpful to our clients in managing their daily operations and business decisions.

Fuel cost is one of the most cumbersome economic burdens that fleet managers face. Fluctuating prices, inefficient vehicle models and certain driving habits can all contribute to what becomes a hypothetical black hole of funds. To help alleviate some worry and allow for a more measurable method of fuel consumption, we have found an online Fuel Cost Calculator which measures the fuel cost of a trip by asking for the trip distance, fuel efficiency of your model vehicle, and gas/fuel price. 

A good teacher can explain complex topics in ways that are clear and concise. And, as anyone who has managed a fleet knows, keeping track of all the tedious details that come along with managing vehicles can be a daunting task. This is why the industry experts at LeasePlan have prepared a useful infographic that exhibits the basic tenets of fleet management in an organized and comprehensible format. For highly advantageous tips, interesting facts and vital insider information: click here! 

Making informed decisions often requires one to ask the right questions. If you are reading this, you are likely already asking yourself this important question: Would it make sense to outsource the management of my fleet?

Here’s the short answer: Enlisting a professional fleet management organization that has an advanced analytical toolkit, close relationships with each auto manufacturer and years of experience can reduce costs in a great many areas, while also allowing your organization to focus on your own core business. However, before deciding whether partnering with a professional fleet manager is the right move for your Community, there are a few more details to consider, and Caritas would like to smooth the decision-making process by asking a few questions of our own...

To help kick-off 2019, Caritas Vehicles Services is pleased to introduce a new series of articles called, “Pocket Protectors." This series will highlight the many ways we help clients to reduce the overall cost of operating their vehicle fleets. Our first article covers one of the key metrics for determining the actual cost to operate each vehicle in a fleet, which is referred to as a vehicle's  total  life-cycle cost. 

During the RCRI Conference in Orlando, CARITAS conducted a workshop focusing on the Top Five Challenges & Solutions for managing the transportation needs of Religious Communities. A panel of guest speakers presented Best Practices and attendees had the opportunity to ask questions  and decide which of the Best Practices should be implemented back home in their own communities. We received copies of everyone's Ideas into Action worksheets, we've summarized all of the ideas, and we are passing these along to assist in your planning efforts. 

Have you started working on a Strategic Plan for managing your vehicle fleet in 2016? This is the first article in a five-part series that shares Great Ideas from the workshop. You can use these ideas to form your community's Strategic Fleet Plan for 2016 . . .now is a good time to plan improvements for next year. We hope this information is helpful!

Great Idea #1 . . . four more to come!

VOLUME FLEET DISCOUNTS

Auto manufacturers have different fleet incentives and VIP programs with pricing tiers that are based on the volume of vehicles to be purchased by a community in the coming model year. These volume discounts allow your community to acquire vehicles for thousands of dollars less than typical retail prices at car dealerships. Here are the basic steps to include in your plan that will ensure you'll receive the maximum fleet discounts:

To the average person, a penny is only worth one cent. But, if your organization owns and operates 30, 100, or over 500 vehicles, one penny can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. How can this be so? It’s all in the math . . . let’s take a look:

With 2015 well underway, it's the right time to make these three Best Practices part of your strategy to reduce the cost of transportation for your community.

It’s not uncommon for small to medium-size organizations including many of our non-profit and faith-based clients that use vehicles in the normal course of running their operation to underestimate the financial impact of managing vehicles. Vehicles are depreciating assets that can become a “black hole” of expense when not properly managed. The solution is to develop and implement a Fleet Management system that is designed to reduce the operating cost of your vehicles. But, how do you know if you really need a Fleet Management program? Answer the following 10 questions to find out . . .

             How can you reduce your fleet's carbon footprint?                 

Top performing Fleet Managers pay close attention to the overall "health" of each vehicle in their fleet, they focus on improving driver behavior, and implement the following best practices: