TMC20: Fleet Advantage Brings Predictive Modeling To Vehicle Lifecycle Management

Fleet Advantage has long been about equipment lifecycle management, and to that end, the company has added a predictive modeling tool to its ATLAAS platform (Advanced Truck Lifecycle Administrative Analytics Software).

"Our new LMS [Lifecycle Management Software] predictive modeling is the next evolution of our superior consultative approach and allows us to more closely forecast the profit and loss statement for the entire fleet as well as individual vehicles," said Jim Griffin, chief operating officer and chief technical officer of Fleet Advantage. "With the new LMS module, we can better identify when trucks should be replaced, equipping fleet managers with their total cost of ownership metrics in advance to help set their budget and be more proactive as opposed to reactionary."

LMS will help customers predict the optimum replacement cycles and operational cost savings on older trucks, he said.

While fleets have been able to use Fleet Advantage data to do some of the same calculations that LMS will do, it's the ability to easily slice and dice the parameters, alter the inputs, and more accurately predict the outcome that LMS has simplified.

"It takes a few more variables in, and it lets you take a point in time so you can see the exact [cost]," Griffin told FreightWaves. "If we wanted to look into the future, [before] we had to do that manually."

The idea, Griffin said, is to be more "budget proactive rather than budget reactive."

LMS leverages ATLAAS data to accomplish this, adding a bit of machine learning along the way. "The more data you get, the smarter it gets," Griffin said.

ATLAAS is a business intelligence resource for fleets. The software platform provides data analytics and visualizations on a vehicle or entire fleet. The software notifies fleets months in advance of when an individual truck or group of trucks will reach what Fleet Advantage calls the "TippingPoint," the point at which a truck reaches economic obsolescence and costs more to operate than to replace with newer equipment.

"With ATLAAS, we've shown a distinct commitment to preserving the bottom line for our transportation fleet clients through innovation and business intelligence resulting in smarter and more profitable decision-making," said Brian Holland, president and CFO of Fleet Advantage.

LMS utilizes ATLAAS data points selected at specific points in the future and analyzes those points to make predictions on a truck's TipppingPoint.

Griffin said that LMS is sortable by vehicle location, make, whether it is a Fleet Advantage vehicle or not, miles, timeframe (the default is a 51-month trade cycle), and day cabs versus sleeper models. It uses fuel price, fuel degradation, maintenance and repair costs, minimum and maximum miles per gallon, and more to create its calculation. These values are customizable.

Once the calculations are complete, LMS will suggest how many vehicles in the fleet should be replaced and the levels of the savings at various points in time (one, two and three years) replacement will net fleets. Users can dig further into each vehicle or set of vehicles to obtain specific numbers for each unit.

A save function allows users to compare savings based on various attributes, including by make or model and facility locations.

"We took the knowledge that the analysts had and wrote algorithms," Griffin said, pointing out that the data provides statistical evidence for fleet managers making the case for equipment purchases.