The buzz phrases in today’s material handling industry are “Lowest Cost of Ownership”, “Most Energy Efficient” and “Greatest Productivity”. We all believe these are great attributes to have attached to your future MHE purchase. The problem is, what baseline are they comparing their claims with, and are they tracking that information for the life of the asset. At Fleet Team, we sift through the buzz and supply your organization with accurate fleet information and recommendations, so you can make informed business decisions.

Do any of the following sound like your company?  
1) Your organization leases the material handling fleet and…

• 80% of all leased assets are returned with underutilized hours.
• The other 20% are billed over use hours at a substantial rate.

Problem:  It is impossible to predict exactly how many hours an asset will use over a lease term, or how long that term should be so an “educated guess” is made, and who is making this “educated guess”? Your operations manager who has responsibility over an entire plant and has limited time to spend on MHE or your local lift truck salesman who just wants to sell you a lift truck and may lower the hours to show you a better rate.

Fleet Team Solution(s): Take the “guess work” out of your utilization.

• Asset hour tracking – we provide reports showing actual hour usage.
• Flexibility – monthly asset investment can be adjusted based on actual hour usage.
• Term – we control the asset and base our term on the expected useful life.
• End of Term – no surprises or hidden fees.

2) Your organization purchases the material handling fleet with the following assumptions:

• We are “cash rich” so why pay interest on a lease or a finance charge.
• “We have always purchased.”
•  Asset is used too much or too little to lease.

Problem: Owned assets never come out of service as they get regulated to “back up” or “I may need it” status. The problem is, these tired assets still absorb a great deal of maintenance expense.  When it’s time for major repairs, all you hear is “it’s cheaper to fix it then replace it”. Most organizations do not track lift truck maintenance expense, or when they do, they often cannot determine if the repair was due to operator damage or equipment failure. The actual or “hidden cost” of that asset gets lost in the shuffle, making it impossible to determine the cost effectiveness of replacing or repairing the asset and this directly effects the bottom line.

Fleet Team Solution(s): Know the numbers to know your fleet.

• Maintenance Tracking – we provide cost per hour, maintenance trend and invoice auditing analysis by asset, model and/or locations
• Utilization Reports – know the fleet is “right-sized.” Lose that spare and reduce your cost!
• Cost Comparisons – know the facts of repair vs. replace.  Be an informed decision maker!

3) Your organization has multiple sites or divisions:

• Difficult to track asset and maintenance information across multiple sites.
• Each location handles their own MHE requirements, with no sharing of information or assets between locations.

Problem: Most companies do not track material handling assets across their network, and MHE responsibilities are shifted to the plant level. The problem with this approach is that the plants are interested in delivering production goals set forth by the corporate office. The MHE fleet is merely an afterthought to be prioritized at lease termination times or when high repair quotes are submitted.

Fleet Team Solution(s): All for One and One for All!

• Maintenance contracts are streamlined between all locations.
• Standardized fleet, allows for ease of asset transfer across all locations.
• All assets are tracked, low utilized units can be transferred to plants where they are needed most.
• Reports are customized to meet department, plant, division or corporate requirements.
• See trackable, transparent savings across the entire network.

4) Who is your material handling expert?

• Do you rely on the local dealer?
• Are they “in-house”?
• Are these responsibilities assigned only when the need arises?
• Do you use the “RFP or RFQ” to find the cheapest deal?

Problem: Unfortunately, there are few times that the MHE fleet becomes a priority and one of those is when it’s time to purchase. When looking to replace assets, there are two distinct paths taken, (1) just get me a new model of what I have, or (2) get me the cheapest truck you can find. Whether due to an individual’s limited time or only considering purchase price cost savings, the acquisition of MHE is handled with a short-sighted approach without a long term vision in mind.

Fleet Team Solution(s):

• We are brand independent with NO quotas to fill for specific manufacturers.
• We are MHE experts.
• We look for the best match to meet your needs.
• We focus on the long-term cost of ownership, not simply cheapest purchase price.
• We can provide comparative information on different manufacturers or models, so you make informed decisions or we can provide turn key solutions.

Fleet Team is your material handling advocate. Our mission is to reduce your overall MHE spend and/or provide process improvement to your fleet. We believe in a personalized approach; your fleet manager will provide you fleet information and recommendations on an ongoing basis. The reporting we provide is tailored to meet your specific informational needs, whether for a single asset or the entire fleet. Visit our website today at www.fleet-team.com for more information. To begin the conversation, feel free to contact me anytime at bsmith@fleet-team.com or call 614-699-2500.