Fleet costs rise slightly for food industry

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 1/1/1999

Private fleet costs in the food industry edged up a bit this year, according to results of a new industry study. The average fleet cost per mile for food distributors and self-distributing food chains rose from $2.077 in 1997 to $2.137 in 1998.

More than 100 food distributors and 10 self-distributing food chains in the United States and Canada participated in the 1998 Wholesale/Retail Transportation and Fleet Maintenance Report. Two industry groups--the Food Distributors International (FDI) in Falls Church, Va., and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) in Washington, D.C.--sponsor the annual study of transportation costs, which is conducted by the Center for Food Marketing at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

The FDI/FMI report also noted that driver-related costs, including wages, benefits, and insurance, accounted for some 54 percent of total fleet costs. Actual operating costs, on the other hand, represented only 22 percent of total costs.

Although outsourcing of fleet operations is widespread, it has not yet overtaken in-house management in popularity. Some 62 percent of respondents said they operated private fleets, including in-house maintenance facilities, in 1998. Another 24 percent of those surveyed indicated that they used contract-carriage services.

When asked about the most pressing issues facing them, fleet managers ranked customer service as their top concern, followed by driver availability. This year, 47 percent of respondents said there was a shortage of qualified drivers, down from 50 percent last year. Retirement was the reason most frequently cited for drivers leaving the fleet.

Survey respondents said 97 percent of their deliveries were made on time. Most of the fleet managers said they measured on-time delivery performance based on whether or not trucks arrived within a specified 30-minute delivery window.

As for fleet operations, the report noted some improvement in gas mileage. Respondents reported that their tractors averaged 6.47 miles per gallon this year, compared with 6.40 mpg in 1997. The average age of those tractors was 5.4 years, while the average age of trailers in the fleets surveyed was 7.25 years.

Respondents reported experiencing an increase in roadside inspections by federal and state enforcement agencies. Forty-four percent of survey respondents said their trucks had been stopped for roadside checks this year, compared with 36 percent last year. Malfunctioning brakes and lights were the problems most frequently cited by inspectors.

Editor's Note: Both FMI and FDI sell this report to non-members for $150. To obtain a copy, contact FDI at 201 Park Washington Court, Falls Church, VA 22046, Phone: (703) 532-9400, or FMI at 800 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20006, Phone: (202) 452-8444.