Fleet Economics · Interactive Model
Find Your Optimal
Utilization Band
Utilization Band
Every fleet faces two opposing costs. Idle trucks bleed dead capital, a real daily cost whether they move or not. A fully deployed fleet with no flexibility creates blocked crew costs, at $3,000 to $5,000 per crew-day. Toggle your fleet strategy below to see how flexibility changes everything.
Fleet Strategy · Toggle to See the Impact
Owned Only
No flexibility buffer
With no flexibility buffer, a single unit failure at high utilization can block a crew immediately. The risk curve rises early and steeply. There is no absorption layer between a truck-down event and lost revenue.
Owned + Lease
Predictable overflow capacity
Owned + Lease + Rental
Maximum flexibility
Dead Capital Cost
Falls as utilization rises
Blocked Crew Cost
Rises as flexibility shrinks
< 73%
Overcapitalized
Dead capital erodes margin. Idle assets cost money every day.
73–81%
Optimal Band
Mixed fleet sweet spot. Own, lease, RPO, and rental in balance.
> 81%
Overexposed
Blocked crew costs spike. One truck down can idle an entire team.
Cost of one idle unit
$198/day
Whether it moves or not
Blocked Crew Cost
$4.5k/day
All-in cost of one blocked crew day
How this is calculated
Methodology & assumptions
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Dead Capital Cost · Formula Derived
Daily carry per unit = (CapEx × 22% + $10,000) ÷ 250 working days
Dead capital cost = Idle units × Daily carry per unit
Dead capital cost = Idle units × Daily carry per unit
The 22% ownership cost rate is a midpoint combining cost of capital and economic depreciation. The $10,000 fixed annual amount covers insurance, registration, telematics, and base maintenance.
Blocked Crew Cost · Your Input
Blocked Crew Cost = Crew labor + Field overhead + Lost contribution margin + Penalties + Remobilization
The blocked crew cost is user-controlled so the model can reflect different business realities, crew sizes, and project margins.
Risk Curves · What the Toggle Shows
The three strategy curves are calibrated behavioral models. As owned utilization rises, the probability of a unit failure blocking a crew increases as remaining slack disappears.
The dead capital line is arithmetic. The risk curves are a structural decision model.
Optimal Band · Where the Two Forces Balance
The tipping point is the utilization level where blocked crew cost and dead capital cost are approximately equal. The optimal band is shown as a range around that crossover.