Understanding Vehicle Utilization and Out-of-Service Time

What does utilization mean?

Utilization measures whether a vehicle was assigned to an active agreement during the selected reporting period.

For daily utilization, a vehicle is counted as utilized for the day if it was loaned out on an agreement at any point during that day. This means daily utilization is calculated as either utilized or not utilized for each vehicle each day.

For example:

* If a vehicle is not on an agreement during the day, it counts as 0% utilized for that day.
* If a vehicle is on an agreement at any point during the day, it counts as 100% utilized for that day.

There is not a partial daily utilization percentage for a single vehicle, such as 40% or 60%, based on the number of hours it was loaned out.

Which vehicles are included in utilization reporting?

Vehicles are generally included in the utilization report when they are part of the active reportable fleet.

The following statuses are included in utilization reporting:

* Available
* Loaned
* On Hold
* Hard Hold

These vehicles are considered part of the active fleet for reporting purposes.

How does each status affect utilization?

 Available

Available vehicles are included in the fleet count. Since a vehicle is not assigned to an agreement when Available, this will lower utilization for each 

 Loaned

Loaned vehicles are in use on an active agreement. Since the vehicle is assigned to an agreement, it counts toward utilization for the applicable day or reporting period.

On Hold

On Hold vehicles are included in the fleet count, but they are not actively loaned out on an agreement. Because of this, On Hold vehicles can lower utilization.

This status is typically used when a vehicle is being held or reserved from use, but it is still counted as part of the reportable fleet.

Hard Hold

Hard Hold vehicles are included in the fleet count. A vehicle may be placed in Hard Hold while it is still connected to an active agreement.

If the vehicle is on an active agreement during the selected reporting period, it can still count toward utilization. If it is not on an active agreement, it can lower utilization.

What counts as out-of-service time?

Out-of-service time is based on vehicle status history.

The following statuses are not treated as out of service:

* Available
* Loaned
* On Hold
* Hard Hold

If a vehicle is placed into another status outside of the normal available or active statuses, that time may be counted as out-of-service time.

Examples may include statuses used for maintenance, service, repairs, or other dealership-specific unavailable statuses.

Which vehicles may be excluded from utilization reporting?

Some vehicles may be excluded from the utilization report entirely depending on their current status or setup.

Examples may include:

* Retired vehicles
* Parts vans
* Vehicles marked Install Required
* Inactive vehicles
* Vehicles deleted before the selected reporting period
* Vehicles not yet registered during the selected reporting period

When a vehicle is excluded from the report, it does not help or hurt utilization.

Simple summary

A vehicle helps utilization when it is assigned to an active agreement during the selected date range.

A vehicle may lower utilization when it is included in the reportable fleet but is not assigned to an active agreement.

Available and On Hold vehicles can lower utilization because they are not on an agreement.

Loaned vehicles count toward utilization because they are actively assigned to an agreement.

Hard Hold vehicles may count toward utilization if they are still tied to an active agreement.

A vehicle may count toward out-of-service time when it is placed into a status outside of the normal available or active statuses.

A vehicle may be ignored completely if it is not considered part of the active reportable fleet during the selected period.

Why does utilization sometimes look different than expected?

Utilization may look lower than expected when vehicles are included in the reportable fleet but are not assigned to active agreements. This can happen when vehicles are Available, On Hold, or Hard Hold without active agreement activity during the selected date range.

Daily utilization may also look higher than expected in some cases because a vehicle counts as utilized for the full day if it was on an agreement at any point during that day.

For the most accurate reporting, make sure vehicles are placed into the correct status and agreements are opened and closed properly.