THOUGHT LEADER
Vehicle & Parts Procurement: Data Collection Needed to Get Ready for New Direction
Written By Robert T. Pudlewski A
s more and more of our governing parties regulate us rapidly into a zero-emission school bus future, we will be faced with new equipment options that will significantly
change the way we purchase and utilize our fleet. Equip- ment, vehicle and infrastructure support that will meet the future regulatory requirements will be very expen- sive and complex. The somewhat emotional and rapid transition toward
electric school buses has necessitated a strategic realign- ment of business models for school bus manufacturers and operators. To capitalize on evolving OEM market dynamics,
operators must prepare a comprehensive roadmap that maximizes all the available procurement opportunities, which includes the pursuit of grants to help balance high acquisition capital cost with present operational plans and costs. This becomes crucial as more and more states mandate zero-emission school buses, prompting school bus industry operators to focus on cost-effective vehicle operating strategies including, leasing vs. pro- curement, fleet utilization planning, and extending the safe useful life of its legacy fleet. An important component of this roadmap should
include a comprehensive review of parts and compo- nent purchasing practices that will help maintain their continued share of school system transportation operat- ing budgets.
Fleet Utilization Your first step in preparing for these challenges should
be to look at your fleet utilization and replacement strategy: • Define your current fleet replacement strategy and what influences it: Age, condition, technology, zero emissions, or life cycle economics?
• What is the fleet’s average age by school and non- school vehicle type: Type A,B,C,D, motorcoach, cars, and vans?
• What is the current vehicle utilization rate? How is it measured?
32 School Transportation News • JULY 2023
• Are your district a.m. and p.m. routes conducive to maximum fleet utilization?
One reason that fleet utilization is such an important aspect of school bus fleet management is that our “gut feel” and the fact that we “really need more vehicles to do our job” aren’t good enough to make decisions that may have an impact of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to a fleet. You need real measurements, (key metrics), of vehicle use that you can use to manage your fleet and justify vehicle acquisition or down-sizing. School bus fleet utilization studies are something that
should be done continuously because fleet needs and conditions change frequently, as well as route capacities change. Change is inevitable. Common reasons utiliza- tion often gets out of control in a fleet, and the reasons utilization should be revisited frequently, include: •
Insufficient data to understand basic bus fleet demographics and using multiple management systems
• Lack of bus fleet operational technology to easily measure and understand utilization
• Lack of formal policies for acquisition, use, trans- fer and disposal of vehicles and equipment
• Failure to adjust the size and composition of the fleet as district needs change
• A desire to keep old vehicles “in reserve” rather than dispose of them
• A tendency to manage the bus fleet size based on historical budgets
• Reluctance to change, “Because that’s how we’ve always done it.”
Utilization of zero-emission buses will have to include range capability and charging time, plus the impact of repair cost associated with increased longevity of legacy school bus vehicles will pose a unique set of challenges to fleet utilization dynamics.
Repair Parts Cost: Keep the Aging Fleet Going Safely Over the past couple of decades, our industry has been subjected to many regulatory mandates relative to
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