NTEA recently published its 11th annual Fleet Purchasing Outlook to assess commercial vehicle procurement plans and identify work truck industry patterns. Insights provided by fleet professionals offer perspective on how the market is changing over time in terms of size, growth rate and technology.

"The latest survey responses indicate that fleet purchasing activity will focus on deferred replacement and growth," said Chris Lyon, NTEA director of fleet relations. "These findings are consistent with expectations, as fleets continue to be challenged by the ability to obtain chassis."

NTEA gathers feedback from a wide variety of fleet professionals with authority to make commercial vehicle acquisition and specification decisions. Participants come from a wide range of fleet sizes, vehicle weight classes and vocational truck applications across the United States and Canada. Primary sectors featured in this analysis include government/municipal, construction, delivery and utility/telecom application markets.

With current survey results combined with data from previous studies, this report delivers year-over-year comparisons for benchmarking purposes and insight into the fleet perspective to help organizations develop future business strategies.

Fleets report one of their most important management priorities is to optimize operations. Continuing to reduce vehicle life cycle cost, sourcing vehicles to backfill deferred replacements, idle reduction and uptime also are key priorities. Acquisition costs and longer lead times are among the biggest challenges fleet managers are facing when purchasing new commercial vehicles.

Report findings showcase

• Average vehicle age and replacement cycles
• Projected change in fleet size
• Acquisition plans and funding
• Anticipated vehicle platform shifts
• Technology implementations
• Conventional and alternative fuels usage
• Commercial vehicle systems electrification
• Safety and automation options
• Commercial vehicle maintenance approaches
• Lead time considerations

Fleet respondents report the following:

• 69 percent report the average age of their trucks is exceeding their normal replacement cycle, and 29 percent say the average age is increasing beyond 10 years.
• 42 percent state their fleet size is increasing, and another 40 percent indicate it's remaining the same.
• 95 percent plan to make at least some acquisitions in 2023 (up 6 percent over 2022), and 58 percent plan to replace at least 5 percent of their total fleet in 2023.
• 42 percent say they would purchase a different brand due to longer lead times and lack of chassis availability.
• 79 percent are using drive and duty cycle data and 81 percent are using telematics.
• 91 percent they are finding safety and automation options to meet their needs; tire pressure monitoring, collision avoidance and lane departure warnings make the list of top items of importance to fleets.
• 62 percent intend to purchase advanced fuel vehicles in 2023.
• 77 percent perform in-house maintenance or a combination of in-house maintenance with support from an outside service provider.

The 2023 Fleet Purchasing Outlook is a free report download available to NTEA members. Nonmembers can purchase for $199.

For additional details and report access, visit ntea.com/fpo.

This story also appears on Truck and Trailer Guide.

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