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Regardless of what use your business has for commercial vehicles in 2022, we can give your business the context to succeed. Last year we saw unprecedented changes in the transportation industry. Fleet logistics has become more home-delivery-focused and pressures on the supply chain and manufacturing have driven an increased need for certain vehicle makes. Businesses with commercial vehicle fleets of all sizes can benefit from creating a 2022 plan.
Reducing vehicle downtime, recording and mitigating risks, analyzing fleet metrics, and establishing a detailed plan of action are all part of fleet manager’s 2022 to-dos. Ultimately, it comes down to successfully maximizing the utilization of the fleet. Here’s what to keep in mind for 2022:
The past couple years have created a strong final-mile commercial vehicle demand. With many people working from home, consumer packaged products that are home delivered have become very popular. This presents fleet managers with an opportunity to keep vehicles like cargo vans and box trucks that can easily maneuver local and city-streets on the road. To scale, companies like Amazon have proven that proximity to point-of-sale is important with their distribution centers opening across the country. Whether within your businesses’ industry or without, demand for final-mile vehicles in 2022 should only increase to deliver goods to the end consumer.
Increasing consumer demand for goods delivered at home has brought supply chain challenges that can be solved with commercial trailers. Trailers meet a growing need to deliver imports over-the-road to distribution centers. North America’s commercial trailer market has the second-highest growth rate in the world. In recent years, industry sectors such as ecommerce, food & beverage, and construction require trailers to get their freight over the road. There is a wide range of uses for commercial trailers, particularly dry van trailers, and they are very low maintenance. Trailers’ flexibility and versatility make these units a good investment if they can be found at a reasonable price.
Manufacturing shortages do present a challenge in commercial trailer acquisition, so monitor the market if this is in your business’ plan. Long-term commercial trailer rentals may need to be secured until manufacturing catches up.
The manufacturing shortage of commercial vehicles is largely a result of COVID-19 disruption in the supply chain. Originally it was driven by a lack of microchips. Though they are small, the lack of them has had a mighty effect. Suppliers like Great Dane, Wabash, and Utility have large production backlogs. If you’re considering growing your fleet in 2022, take into account the tight market for newer models. It may be worth considering used vehicle purchase rather than competing with the shortage.
Though this trend has been going for several decades, the driver shortage in 2022 is still worth high consideration. Traditionally, solving the driver shortage for a business means paying drivers more to stay competitive. Pay raises can be as high as 11% year-over-year, so driver retention in 2022 can be difficult. There are other creative solutions, for example, like fostering the next generation of an aging truck driver employee pool through CDL training. Over 25% of truck drivers will be 65 or older in the next 10 years. Even still, some DMV driver schools have shuttered their doors due to the effect of the pandemic. If retention and hiring of drivers is expected to slow your business it may be time to consider taking further steps to be flexible.
As you launch into 2022, there are many factors you will need to consider to meet your business’s goals. Fortunately, COOP can be a technology partner that can help optimize your fleet. Any times where you anticipate your business will not need its fleet in-use can be an opportune time to list those vehicles as available on COOP. Your vehicles could earn up to $5,000 per month when listed on COOP. See our Rental Calculator to make an estimate based on your fleet. Furthermore, your business can use COOP as your solution to finding additional capacity when you need it. COOP has hundreds of available trucks, tractors, and trailers for rent and you can choose the vehicle with the specs you need at the rate you want.
Every business is unique, and we are here to discuss a 2022 plan that is personalized to your business’ needs. If your business expects to experience downtime in 2022, or if it may need some extra capacity along the way, talk to our team to learn more about how COOP can help.
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