November 2010, Work Truck - Feature
Selecting the Right Cargo Van for Your Fleet
The same van specs used for the past 10 years might not match fleet requirements today.
Several steps are outlined to ensure the best cargo van is selected for fleet needs.
By Sean Lyden
As a company prepares to expand its van fleet or replace aged units, as the fleet manager, you're looking for creative ways to save money, without sacrificing crew productivity or safety. Typically asked questions during this process include:
■ Should fleet move to smaller vans, which would cost less up front and offer better fuel economy?
■ If the decision is made to downsize to smaller vans, is it still possible to maintain the required payload, per vehicle, per trip?
■ Should larger vans be spec'ed that would provide the ability to haul more per trip and reduce the overall number of vans needed?
Finding the right answers to these questions can be daunting for even seasoned fleet managers because the stakes are high, especially when looking to make significant changes to a company's standard van spec.
If a van is under-spec'ed and consistently overloaded, premature maintenance issues are created by forcing the engine, transmission, and suspension to work harder than designed. This also risks the crew's safety due to the added stress on the braking system, exposing a company to greater liability if the van is involved in an accident when overloaded.
Conversely, if a cargo van is over-spec'ed, e.g., selecting a ¾- or 1-ton unit when a smaller ½-ton van will work, the result is not only a $3,000-$4,000 or more up-front acquisition cost, but fuel economy is also sacrificed by as much as 5 miles per gallon.
Analyze Existing Vans
The starting point is to conduct a review of existing vans. Include drivers and crew in this process to get their input as well. Here are four questions to serve as a guide:
■ What is liked about current fleet vans? In other words, what works well?
■ What isn't liked that can be improved with new vans?
■ What is fleet's current average fuel economy with its vans? Can this be improved? By how much?
■ Are the vans operated at full capacity? If not, is it possible to go smaller? If the vans are at max loads, do larger units need to be purchased, whether by payload capacity or van length?
Define Van Performance Requirements
Once what works and what needs to be changed from the existing van fleet has been identified, the next step is to determine exactly how the new van should perform. Answers to the questions below will help gather all the necessary information to make the best van selection.
■ What exactly will the van haul?
■ How much will a full load weigh?
■ What are the payload dimension requirements (height, length, and depth)?
■ How will the van be loaded and unloaded? This impacts interior dimensions and side-door location.
■ What will be loaded outside the van? (Ladders, piping, glass sheets, etc.)
■ Will the van be pulling a trailer? How much total weight (including payload and trailer)? How often will the trailer be pulled? How much weight will be on the trailer when the van itself is fully loaded?
■ How many miles per year will the vehicle run?
Evaluate All Options
Once requirements are defined, it's time to narrow the search. Here are seven points to consider.
1. Van Class/Size. There are two main categories of cargo vans: compact and full-size. Full-size vans are segmented into three classes - ½-ton, ¾-ton, and 1-ton. While these terms have little to do anymore with actual payload capacities, they are still used industry-wide to define those segments.
Once a van requirement profile is created, review payload and training requirements. If the vehicle will haul, for example, 1,100 lbs., the compact Ford Transit Connect van with a payload capacity of 1,600 lbs. might work. However, if cargo is comprised of mostly lightweight, but bulky boxes of paper products, then it may be best to bump up to the full-size van in the ½-ton segment to provide enough room for the size load needed per trip.
When evaluating van size and class, these are the key specs to consider:
■ Maximum payload.
■ Maximum towing.
■ Cargo volume.
Narrow a van search to the size/class van that accommodates fleet's needs in all three areas.
2. Cargo Volume. How much space is needed? Cargo volume, measured in cubic feet, provides a specific number to make an "apples-to-apples" comparison across all vans to see how much cargo space is available.
How many cubic feet does the required cargo take up? This is more difficult to answer. This requires looking beyond the cargo volume number for specific dimensions, especially length and height.
Load length. Most manufacturers offer two length/wheelbase options - regular and extended. (The Mercedes Sprinter offers two wheelbases and three lengths.) What steps are needed to determine which is the best fit?
With the Chevrolet Express cargo van, for example, the extended van is approximately 2 feet longer in the cargo area. Will that extra space be needed to carry longer piping or to ensure room for additional shelving and storage?
Load height. The Sprinter offers two roof options, Standard and Raised. The raised model provides 6 feet, 4 inches of floor-to-roof clearance, allowing most crew members to stand upright while accessing the cargo area. How often will a crew work out of the back of the van? How important is that extra space? The common measurement for cargo space is cargo volume, measured in cubic feet.
For dimensions on load length and height, consult a manufacturer representative or refer to "Links to Detailed Van Specs" below.