Tracking vehicle utilization helps to determine the usage of the vehicles in your fleet. The utilization percentage is calculated by dividing the total days used by the number of days in the current period (e.g., 27 days used / 30 days this period = 90% vehicle utilization). Utilization is reported on the vehicle total cost reports. If the utilization is too low, perhaps some vehicles can be sold, potentially saving money spent on fixed costs. Or, perhaps utilization is low as a result of too many breakdowns, which is costly to your fleet because the vehicle is unavailable and higher repair costs are incurred.
The Setup:
Run End of Period Vehicles (SEV).
The Procedure:
Setting the "Update Days Utilized" switch enables a field in the Many States and Quick Fuel Entry options that allows you to indicate how many days vehicles were in use between fuel-ups (FFM, FFQ).
If you're using EFI load fuel transactions from a third-party fueling system into RTA, activate the Track vehicle use checkbox located in the EFI Process Settings tab. Once activated, the system automatically adds 1 to each vehicle's utilization counter for each fueling transaction processed.
Setting the "Days This Period" tells the system the total number of days vehicles are available for use; this is used in calculating vehicle utilization.
Another way to set the total number of days is to process end of period (EOP) for vehicles; doing so updates the value in the "Days This Period" switch. When implementing the Utilization Tracking feature, it's a good idea to start at the beginning of a new period so setting the total days this way is recommended. Refer to "End of Period for Vehicles" for additional instructions if necessary.
As previously stated, if you're using EFI, the system automatically adds 1 to each vehicle's utilization counter for each fueling transaction processed. If necessary, add additional days through the fuel entry options as described for those who aren't using EFI.
The Total Vehicle Cost by Department or Vehicle report provides the total days used, days possible for use, and utilization percentage for each vehicle in the report (RVD, RVV). In addition, summary information is provided at the end of the report for groups of vehicles so you can see how the fleet is doing as a whole.
Process End of Period Vehicles (SEV) to clear the utilization statistics for the current and reset it for tracking in the new period. Refer to "End of Period for Vehicles" for additional information.