Employee training needs, aging fleets, and advancements in technology continue to be the fleet industry’s top concerns for 2018, according to data from Government Fleet’s annual benchmarking survey. 

Data from the survey shows fewer fleets reporting size increases — 43%. This number had risen steadily since 2014, hitting a 48% peak last year. The number of fleets reporting operating budget increases went up slightly this year, to 56%, mostly due to fuel, parts, and oil costs, as well as technology costs. 

About three-quarters of survey respondents reported having telematics in at least some of their fleet vehicles, potentially a reflection of the higher number of respondents from larger fleets. New for this year is a question about leased vehicles. The majority of fleets report not leasing any vehicles at all — 64% said none of their on-road fleet is leased, and 85% said none of their off-road fleet is leased. Those who did lease vehicles reported leasing a small percentage of their overall inventory.

Additionally, data from Utilimarc, a fleet analytics and business intelligence company, shows that vehicle age (averaged from 2015 to 2017 data) has increased across all classes of vehicles.

Federal fleet data for 2017 was unavailable at press time.

How to View This Year's Benchmarking Statistics

View this year's benchmaking stats at the link below:

View this year's utilization data at the link below:

All of this year's benchmarking data is available in the statistics section of our website.

About the Survey

In July, Government Fleet magazine solicited responses to an annual survey from its readership, receiving 135 qualified responses from a diverse group of public fleets. Information from this issue labeled “SOURCE: GOVERNMENT FLEET RESEARCH” comes from this opt-in survey.