Published in October 2022 Fleet Affiliation.
While purchasing cycles have been disrupted for a couple of years due to several factors (chassis availability, changing technologies, chip shortages as well as other supply chain issues), the show must go on.
Although many fleet professionals have already made adjustments to their purchasing methods, and the climate remains challenging and uncertain, it’s still important to include a forecast as part of your planning strategy. This means evaluating current market conditions and making predictions based on those conditions. While conditions may change and adjustments may be necessary, forecasting can position your organization for long-term success.
Data analysis leads to a solid plan
While there is no single silver bullet available to help form accurate predictions, a variety of data and information sources are available to provide a higher level of forecasting accuracy.
We live in a digital age and are bombarded by data, so it’s critical to invest the time to really analyze and digest the information before creating a plan. A true understanding of data can help transform information into a useful and actionable tool that will build the steps to success. Much as data is key to fueling the design of productive, efficient, and regulatory-compliant vehicles, it can also be used to forecast the business needs of a fleet.
Support the industry and your operations
NTEA is conducting its eleventh annual Fleet Purchasing Outlook Survey to provide a better understanding of industry-wide fleet acquisition and composition plans for 2023.
Valuable input received from the Survey continues to shape the industry and can help fleets benchmark among their peers within specific vocations. The resulting Outlook report provides insights and can show how fleets are evolving for the next year. It also includes changes in average truck age and replacement cycles, macro-level buying tendencies, predicted changes in fleet size, factors driving purchasing behavior, alternative and advanced technology interest, approach to safety and automation, and much more.
By spending 10-15 minutes completing the survey, you provide important input that used across the industry. The information can be used to guide industry trends and be a tool used for making purchasing forecasts for the upcoming years.
Participation is open to all fleets regardless of NTEA member status. Participants receive a full complimentary copy of the Outlook when published early next year.
If you’d like to participate in the Survey but haven’t received an invitation yet, please contact me at chris@ntea.com.