Change in Fleet Policy Means New Vehicles for 2022
October 25, 2021
By Chris Schulken, CoolSys Chief Operating Officer
This past year, we took a closer look at our CoolSys vehicles with the help of a tiger team led by Gary Shmerler, Vice President, Special Projects, and Rachael Nguyen, Director, Materials Management. Based upon recommendations regarding capital lease purchasing and fleet maintenance costs, we changed our strategy on replacing vehicles and how we manage the fleet.
We have switched from purchasing vehicles to leasing them and have targeted 13% of our vehicles for replacement next year and the following years so we can get on a seven-year replacement schedule. This, along with planning for new hires next year, resulted in a need for nearly 500 vans.
Supply Chain Issues Have an Impact
Even though we were confronted with the reality of supply chain restrictions, we were able to order 227 vans — 30 GM vans and 197 Ford vans. These vehicles will be available sometime in Q2 of 2022. These are more vans than we have ordered in the past and we will be looking for other opportunities to pick up vans and trucks as they become available in 2022.
In the meantime, we will be working with local teams to track van orders and get them outfitted. We are also evaluating different vendors to help us manage the fleet to improve our ability to control costs and avoid disruptions moving forward. If you have any questions about fleet opportunities, please reach out to your manager.