How do I calculate vehicle utilisation in a transport business?
Vehicle utilisation is the time or distance a vehicle spends productively on revenue work divided by the time or distance it was available, multiplied by 100. It can also be measured as load carried divided by capacity. State which basis you use.
It matters because trucks cost money whether or not they are earning: finance, insurance and driver time continue when parked.
Commonly misread:
- A vehicle that is moving is not necessarily productive. Empty running counts as movement but not revenue.
- Combining time-based and load-based figures.
- Counting maintenance days as available time without separating them out.
Use three separate views: time utilisation, distance with revenue, and load utilisation. A high figure on one with a low figure on another shows where the loss is.
Want this applied to your business? Zansa builds dashboards and forecasts for small and mid-sized companies worldwide. Start with a free intro call.
Book a call