Fleet management.

• Position: Technology Tools - Brief Article

Wheels Inc., a provider of fleet management solutions and services, has released what it calls a first-in-the-industry Vehicle Replacement Optimization application. The automated tool enhances the replacement cycle by analyzing vehicles on an individual basis. Depending on fleet size, replacing a vehicle at the wrong time can cost over $1,000 dollars per vehicle in depreciation costs.

"Historically, fleet management companies make the generic recommendation that fleet vehicles be replaced in the fall or spring, with the fall hearing the bulk of the volume. But because vehicle values change so rapidly in the fall, it can make an enormous difference when a given vehicle reaches the market during that season," said Darrin Aiken, assistant vice president of remarketing for Wheels. "Telling a client to replace in the fall is helpful, but Wheels can now provide a far more precise forecast about when that turnover should occur."

The Vehicle Replacement Optimization tool is included as a component to FleetView [R], Wheels' Web-based solution that allows fleet...