Utilization

Utilization is used to see what percentage of the fleet is currently being utilized (on rent). When performing yield management, rates can be set up based on utilization to offer discounts when utilization is low and to charge more when utilization is high.

Utilization is calculated for a specific point in time (the calculation date). See the "Availability vs. Utilization" section below for differences between utilization and availability.

In-Fleet Vehicles

The system first adds up the in-fleet vehicles. If an in-fleet vehicle has an expected out-of-service date that is less than or equal to the due back date, it will not be counted.

If utilization is being calculated for a later date (projected utilization), the system then checks for on-order vehicles that will be in-fleet by the calculation’s date. If the on-order vehicle’s expected in-service date is before the calculation’s date, it will be counted.

Reservations/Open Contracts

Once the number of vehicles has been calculated, the system looks for reservations. Each reservation that is due to be picked up before or during the calculation date range adds one to the in-use vehicle count.

The system then checks for open contracts. If a contract is open during the calculation date, an in-use vehicle will be added to the total.

Percentage of In-Use Vehicles

Once all the vehicles, reservations, and open contracts have been accounted for, the system will calculate utilization by dividing the number of in-use vehicles by the total number of vehicles.

Availability vs. Utilization

The utilization calculation is similar to the availability calculation. The major difference between the two is that availability is calculated over a period of time while utilization is calculated for a specific moment in time. Just because utilization is less than 100% does not mean that vehicles are available. For example, suppose one compact car (out of ten) is left on the lot. The utilization is 90%. A reservation is made for a compact vehicle which is due to be picked up tomorrow. Utilization is still 90% (the car is still on the lot right now), but checking availability for a reservation due to be pickup up two days from now will show that no cars are available. The car on the lot will be rented out on that existing reservation, leaving none for the reservation currently being entered.