Fleet Utilization Guide: How to Find and Manage Underutilized Vehicles

Some underutilized fleet vehicles don't just sit. They deteriorate while they sit.

During a recent episode of The Fleet Success Show, one of RTA's fleet professionals recalled an operation where several vehicles were being used so infrequently that their batteries were dying. Some were even developing mold.

The fleet eventually pulled and repurposed roughly 20 vehicles. Instead of purchasing replacements for other needs, the organization was able to put assets it already owned back to work.

It's an extreme example, but it gets at an important question:

How many vehicles in your fleet are being used differently than you think they are?

Fleet utilization data can help answer that question. It can uncover vehicles that are barely moving, assets accumulating miles or hours much faster than planned, and assignments that no longer make sense.

The harder part comes next. Fleet managers have to figure out why.

What is fleet utilization?

Fleet utilization measures how much a vehicle or piece of equipment is being used. Utilization management compares that actual use with the level of use expected for the asset's mission and lifecycle.

That distinction matters.

The goal isn't to drive every vehicle as much as possible or get every asset to the same utilization rate. A healthy fleet will have high-use and low-use assets because those assets perform different jobs.

The goal is to understand whether actual use makes sense.

Depending on the asset, useful measures can include:

• Miles traveled
• Engine or operating hours
• Days used
• Trips completed
• Time in use
• Fuel consumption
• Other measures tied to the asset's work

RTA fleet consultant Steve Saltzgiver discusses many of these measures in his guide to vehicle utilization management.

The metric you choose should reflect the job the asset performs.

A light-duty vehicle assigned to an inspector may be evaluated primarily by mileage and days used. Engine hours may tell you much more about a piece of heavy equipment. A seasonal or emergency asset requires additional context.

That's also why a single fleet-wide utilization percentage usually isn't very useful.

What is a good fleet utilization rate?

There isn't one utilization target that makes sense for every vehicle and piece of equipment.

A police vehicle, dump truck, administrative sedan, backhoe, transit bus, and fire apparatus have different jobs. Their utilization standards should reflect those jobs.

Even two vehicles with the same make and model may need different expectations.

Consider two identical trucks. One travels between facilities throughout the day. The other supports a crew that works primarily at a fixed location. The mileage difference could be substantial even though both vehicles are being used appropriately.

This is where fleet class coding becomes important. Assets need to be grouped in a way that makes comparisons meaningful. If vehicles performing materially different jobs are grouped together, the resulting utilization analysis can point you in the wrong direction.

For many fleets, one of the most useful utilization benchmarks is already sitting inside the replacement plan.

Compare actual use with the utilization assumptions you made when planning the asset's lifecycle.

If a vehicle was expected to accumulate roughly 10,000 miles per year and is consistently traveling far more or far less, you have something worth investigating.

You don't necessarily have a problem yet.

You have an exception that needs an explanation.

How do you identify an underutilized fleet vehicle?

An underutilized vehicle is an asset whose actual use consistently falls below the level expected for its assignment, mission, or planned lifecycle.

Start by comparing similar assets.

Look at mileage, hours, days used, trips, or whichever measures are appropriate for the class. Then identify the vehicles that fall meaningfully outside the expected range.

RTA's fleet professionals have written about looking for these utilization anomalies as part of a regular vehicle utilization management process. Utilization data can also be used as part of a broader effort to right-size a fleet.

Once you've identified the outliers, resist the urge to immediately label them as waste.

There are plenty of legitimate reasons for low use.

A snowplow may sit for months before the fleet needs it. A backup emergency vehicle may accumulate few annual miles but still serve an important readiness requirement. Specialized equipment may only perform a handful of jobs each year.

That context determines what happens next.

What should you do with an underutilized fleet vehicle?

Finding the vehicle is the beginning of the work.

A useful review starts with the asset's mission.

1. Find out why utilization is low

Talk with the department using the vehicle.

How is it used? Has the job changed since the vehicle was acquired? Is demand seasonal? Does it carry specialized equipment? Is it required for emergency response or another readiness requirement? What would happen operationally if it weren't available?

Sometimes the conversation confirms that the vehicle needs to stay exactly where it is.

Sometimes you discover that nobody has asked these questions in years.

Departments change. Staffing changes. Routes change. Programs end. Responsibilities move.

Vehicle assignments don't always change with them.

2. Check whether you're measuring the right thing

Low mileage doesn't always mean low utilization.

A piece of equipment could spend hours operating in one location while accumulating almost no miles. A work truck may function as a rolling toolbox. Another vehicle may make frequent short trips.

If your utilization metric doesn't reflect the asset's actual work, fix the measurement before making a decision about the vehicle.

3. Check the asset's classification

Sometimes the vehicle isn't underutilized at all. It's being compared with the wrong peers.

Assets with similar specifications can perform very different jobs and may need different lifecycle assumptions.

Our guide to fleet class coding goes deeper into why classification affects utilization analysis, budgeting, and replacement planning.

Once you've confirmed the metric, mission, and classification, you can decide what to do with the asset.

Five options for an underutilized fleet vehicle

There isn't one correct response to low utilization. In practice, most decisions fall into five categories.

Keep it

Some low-use assets have legitimate mission requirements.

If a vehicle is required for emergency response, seasonal operations, specialized work, or another documented operational need, retaining it may be the right decision.

Document the reason.

That matters when someone outside the fleet eventually asks why the organization owns a vehicle that accumulated so few miles last year.

A fleet manager should be able to answer that question with operating data and mission requirements.

Reassign it

A vehicle that provides little value in one department may be needed somewhere else.

This can be particularly useful when another comparable asset is being used much more heavily than planned.

Reassignment still requires some math.

Moving equipment, changing decals, modifying upfits, coordinating departments, and taking a vehicle out of service all have costs. There may also be organizational resistance when employees or departments view assigned vehicles as "theirs."

We call that switching friction, and it belongs in the calculation.

If the lifecycle benefit of moving an asset is meaningful and the cost of making the switch is reasonable, reassignment can make sense.

Pool or share it

Several departments may each have a low-use assigned vehicle even though their combined transportation needs could be met with fewer shared assets.

A motor pool or shared-vehicle program can increase utilization without leaving employees without transportation when they need it.

This is one of several strategies covered in RTA's guide to right-sizing a fleet using utilization data.

Reclassify it

If the utilization pattern is legitimate but consistently different from the other vehicles in its class, the lifecycle assumptions may need to change.

This is especially useful when a group of visually similar assets has distinctly different use cases.

Separating high- and low-use applications can make future utilization analysis and replacement planning much more meaningful.

Dispose of it

Sometimes the organization simply doesn't need the asset anymore.

If there is no compelling mission requirement, no appropriate reassignment, and no practical shared use, disposal may be the responsible choice.

That decision has an impact beyond today's operating expenses.

An asset removed from the fleet is also one less asset the organization needs to fund in a future replacement cycle.

For fleets struggling with capital planning, utilization analysis and fleet replacement planning should be closely connected.

A simple decision process for low-use vehicles

When you find an underutilized vehicle, work through the decision in this order:

Is the vehicle required for a legitimate mission or readiness need?

If yes, document the requirement and retain it if appropriate.

If not, determine whether the low utilization is temporary or persistent.

For persistent low utilization, check whether the vehicle could fill a need elsewhere in the organization.

If reassignment doesn't make sense, determine whether the demand could be served through a motor pool or another shared transportation option.

If the organization no longer has a sufficient need for the asset, evaluate it for disposal.

At any point in that process, you may discover that the real issue is the utilization metric or asset classification. Correct those before making a permanent asset decision.

The goal is to make the decision based on what the vehicle actually does for the organization.

Don't ignore overutilized vehicles

A good utilization review looks at both ends of the range.

Suppose several vehicles in an appropriate class are operating close to the mileage or hour assumptions in the lifecycle plan, while one asset is accumulating use much faster.

That vehicle deserves attention too.

High utilization can affect when an asset reaches its planned replacement point and can create unexpected pressure on future capital needs.

This is where utilization connects directly to lifecycle management.

RTA's fleet replacement planning guide covers the broader replacement process, while Fleet360's replacement tools can incorporate factors such as asset age, usage, maintenance costs, and condition when fleets are evaluating replacement priorities.

You can also read more about how RTA approaches asset lifecycle and cost management.

If you have both high- and low-use outliers within the same appropriate class, reassignment may be worth evaluating. The decision still needs to account for mission requirements and switching friction.

How often should fleet utilization be reviewed?

Don't wait until budget season to discover that a vehicle has barely moved all year.

During a Fleet Success Show discussion, our team talked about one fleet that made utilization review part of its monthly operating rhythm.

Fleet leaders brought utilization data to a meeting with department representatives, reviewed the high and low outliers, discussed the reasons behind them, and decided what needed attention.

The meeting reportedly took about 15 minutes.

That's a useful model.

For some fleets, monthly reviews will make sense. Others may use a different cadence. What matters is having a repeatable process that catches meaningful changes early enough to act.

A utilization review can be straightforward:

1. Identify high- and low-use outliers.
2. Compare actual utilization with the expected range.
3. Ask the department what is driving the difference.
4. Confirm the asset's mission and classification.
5. Decide whether any action is warranted.
6. Assign responsibility and revisit the issue at the next review.

The Fleet Success Show episode on utilization vs. availability is also worth watching for a broader discussion of how utilization affects fleet performance.

Fleet utilization data needs context

Mileage and meter readings alone won't tell you what to do with an asset.

A useful utilization decision may require the fleet manager to look at the asset's assignment, class, age, maintenance history, costs, downtime, replacement target, and mission.

That information is much harder to use when it's scattered across spreadsheets, paper records, maintenance systems, and other disconnected tools.

This is one of the fleet blind spots that can make an apparently simple question surprisingly difficult to answer.

RTA Fleet360's asset management capabilities are designed to give public fleet leaders a centralized view of their vehicles and equipment, including information such as class, department, odometer, purchase details, warranties, mounted equipment, and operator assignments. Fleet360 also supports budgeting and asset lifecycle management using maintenance history, costs, utilization, and depreciation data.

The software doesn't make the utilization decision for the fleet manager.

It gives the fleet manager a clearer picture to make it.

Good utilization management starts with knowing why

A well-run fleet can have vehicles with very different mileage, hours, and usage patterns.

Those differences should have an explanation.

When a vehicle is barely being used, find out whether the mission still requires it. When an asset is accumulating use much faster than planned, understand what that means for its lifecycle. When the data suggests two comparable vehicles could be used more efficiently, determine whether reassignment makes financial and operational sense.

And when low utilization is justified, document the reason.

That's especially important for public fleet leaders who may need to explain asset counts and replacement requests to finance, leadership, elected officials, auditors, or other stakeholders.

Utilization data gives you evidence for those conversations.

It can show you where the fleet has too much capacity, where assets are being stretched, where lifecycle assumptions need another look, and where an unusual utilization pattern is entirely appropriate.

The most important question isn't whether every vehicle meets the same utilization target.

It's whether you know why each asset is being used the way it is and whether that use still makes sense for the organization.

If you need help establishing utilization metrics, identifying low-use assets, or determining what to do with the outliers, learn more about RTA Fleet Consulting. RTA's fleet practitioners work directly with public fleet leaders on utilization management, lifecycle analysis, replacement planning, and other fleet challenges.

This article was inspired by a recent episode of our podcast. Check out the full episode for even more tips and tricks: