We are well aware of the challenges the industry is facing…and the opportunities that are waiting to be captured. Here are NationaLease’s goals for 2022.
Right before we left for the holidays, I wrote a blog on how the industry was coping with the disruptions of 2021 and the challenges we face in 2022. Some of the things that created significant disruption in 2021 will be with us for some time; others are starting to wane.
Hopefully, the COVID Omicron variant is projected to peak in the middle of January. If that happens, absences due to illness will subside and that bodes well for retail, hospitality, healthcare, and transportation (as well as every other conceivable industry).
Although shipping backups are expected to continue into at least Q2, Goldman Sachs estimates that those problems should ease up a bit after the holidays and Lunar New Year. And with the holidays ending, capacity will open up for regular business.
Shortages due to factory shutdowns will continue to plague everyone…especially those of us in this industry, whether that means a truck rental and leasing organization like NationaLease, private fleets, or Owner-Operators.
But that doesn’t mean we just sit back and accept what happens. At NationaLease, we look at 2022 and see ways to help our customers do what they do best by taking on the burdens of getting their product to its destination, efficiently and cost-effectively.
- One of the biggest problems fleets are facing (if not the biggest) is securing allocations for 2023 truck production (2022 is in the rear mirror). Our 130 member businesses and 1,000 locations (with 85,000 trucks and 65,000 trailers) in the US and Canada give us tremendous leverage and we intend to maximize the power of our system to secure as many allocations for 2023 truck production as possible. Few private fleets have that aggregated buying power.
- Even with our leverage, not every fleet will be able to get all the vehicles they need at this point in time. Since our customers play an essential role in the supply chain, that makes it more important than ever that every vehicle in our customers’ fleets is operating as efficiently as possible to meet their own customers’ demands. Our maintenance offering ensures that is the case.
- Shortages lead to price increase, but we work closely with the industry’s top suppliers to minimize cost increases wherever and whenever we can. We will continue to negotiate excellent pricing and terms for parts, components, tires, office and warehouse supplies, and more.
- Over the next five years, the industry will face big changes in emission standards from both CARB and Federal regulations. We will continue to prepare for those and will help our customers do the same.
- EVs and Alternative Power once were thought of as part of the future…but the future is now. The transition to these technologies is beginning to take place and to optimize our customers’ business, we will continue to form the strategic partnerships necessary to be a leader in the EV/Alternative Power transformation.
As we’ve all seen over the past two years, life can still surprise us with the unknown and unexpected. But, as always, we move forward turning obstacles into opportunities for our customers.
Read my end of year blog.
