Buying trucks in bulk: Is buying fleet the right choice for your business?

• Author: Campbell, Melissa

Susan McBride is in charge of purchasing and overseeing 150 pickup trucks for her employer, Wilder Construction. Every winter, she starts the process of ordering half a dozen or so trucks.

Buying a personal vehicle can turn into an all-day affair. Pick a car, get the pitch from the salesperson, take a test drive, then haggle over the price for what could add up to hours.

That's just not something McBride, nor those who hold similar jobs, have time for.

So by the New Year, McBride sends out bid requests to auto fleet dealers. McBride knows what she needs-the basic, plain-Jane, white, full-size pickup truck. The dealers send back a quote, then the company buys from the dealership that offers the best deal. No haggling, no sales pitch, no headaches.

That's the main difference between commercial and retail sales, said Kurt Burroughs, commercial sales manager at Tony Chevrolet of Anchorage.

"Commercial salespeople oftentimes sell what the customer wants and not necessarily what's in front of them on the lot," he said. "When you call up on the phone, talk to a retail salesperson and say you need something, the retail person doesn't know the right questions to ask. Commercial people really have a knowledge of commercial trucks. We do very little in passenger-type career cars, but we do tons of trucks to businesses that use them."

The options a business needs in a vehicle can be very specific to the job-standard engine or heavy duty, a special cooling system or no, regular or heavy load capacity. And do you really need that upgraded sound system or air conditioning?

Commercial sales representatives usually get special training in the types of vehicles businesses most use, sales managers say, most notably in trucks and vans. That helps businesses, especially small organizations, best determine what they need-whether to buy or lease or purchase an extended warranty. Representatives also can point out some general tax benefits to each option.

The first question a fleet salesperson asks is what the vehicle will be used for. A construction company that needs a couple of trucks for a few weeks in a year may be better off leasing. Or if the owner wants to keep the truck for a couple of years, buying might be the best option for tax purposes. The company may not need a truck with a heavy load capacity if it only serves to get the crew to the workplace. And you may or may not want to spend the extra money on all the bells and whistles, such as power windows...