Polytechnic and design, Vol. 10 No. 1, 2022.
Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.19279/TVZ.PD.2022-10-1-01
CONCEPT OF THE PROCEDUDRE FOR DETERMINING OPTIMAL FLEET SIZE
Ratko Stanković
orcid.org/0000-0002-5793-5558
; Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
Goran Kolarić
; Ministry of Science and Education, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
When planning the vehicle fleet, it is necessary to determine the required number and structure of vehicles, given the expected demand, i.e. the transport needs. To remain competitive in the market, companies must manage their fleet by providing customers with the appropriate quality of service, with minimal transportation costs. In doing so, they mainly rely on their own marketing activities and experience, which are limited in scope, without a scientific approach and analysis. In this paper, we defined the procedure for determining the optimal size (number of vehicles) of the road freight vehicle fleet, on a conceptual level. In this regard, we performed a case study of a beverage distribution company, within which we collected and analyzed historical data on transport demand and transport costs, and we forecasted transport demand for the forthcoming period. Based on this, according to the criterion of minimal transport costs, we determined the optimal share of outsourcing (hiring external carriers) and the optimal number of the company's own vehicles, i.e. the optimal size of the vehicle fleet. We quantified the improvement achieved by applying the outlined procedure in the form of reduction in transportation costs at 7.500,00 € annually i.e., 2,4% compared to the company's empirical solution.
Keywords
vehicle fleet; optimal size; case study
Hrčak ID:
275250
URI
Publication date:
7.3.2022.
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