PrivateFleets.com

Last month, I published a research paper on private fleet backhaul. The research was based on a survey that more than 50 private fleet managers took the time to complete. One of the most interesting findings was that 77 percent of private fleet managers would like to increase the share of company freight that is hauled by their fleet.

The question is, how do you go about increasing your market share? This led me to begin another research project or “white paper,” as I call it. This time the subject will be the metrics that private fleets should use and thus improve in order to succeed in increasing their share of company freight.

To me it seems necessary to grow the size of your fleet in order to give employees a better career path. And the only way to grow the size of a private fleet is to increase the value and competitiveness of the fleet, lane by lane. Therefore, what must these metrics be and what numbers do you need to meet in order to justify expanding the private fleet?

As an obvious example, a fleet’s overall net operating cost and its net operating cost per lane largely determine how competitive it is against outside carriers and 3PLs. Another consideration is whether you operate as a cost center, a cost avoidance center, or a profit center. How you structure the fleet will largely determine what type of accounting methods and metrics you use. And finally, what metrics you choose to focus on will determine what type of backhaul loads and lanes are a good fit for your operations.

The reason I am writing this blog entry is because in the next week or so, I would like to speak with some of you about the metrics you are responsible for and what type(s) of analysis you have done that has proven useful to help your private fleet become more competitive. I am also interested in speaking about third-party backhaul–specifically what type of lane-by-lane analysis you have done to determine what rates to charge for backhauls and in which lanes it makes sense to pursue them for your fleet.

It will only take a few minutes to answer a few questions and, if you would prefer, I won’t use your company name in the white paper. My plan is to distribute the white paper for free to anyone that wants it, so everyone can benefit from sharing knowledge. Please reply and let’s get started.