ket. Fortunately, we are operating from a platform of trust and understanding to make adjustments. Both partners have remained committed to continuous product development introducing equipment enhancements and upgrades by listening to customers. Van Hool’s flexibility in manufacturing has been a critical success factor for the North American market.”
Mission 2013 launches
According to Cornell, Mission 2013 is a timely, empirical approach that spells out how ABC Companies and Van Hool differentiate themselves in the motorcoach industry. He maintains that, to a certain extent, all OEMs are equal. “For the most part they all have their proprietary design features, but they all build to the same regulatory and safety standards and offer similar onboard amenities,” he says. “Our intent going forward is to concentrate more on how operators truly benefit from purchasing a coach from us. We have heard from operators of mixed fleets who track expenses on parts and labor for the various models. They claim their Van Hool coaches are less expensive to operate cost per mile.” Cornell says the objectives of Mission 2013 are to drill down to qualify these reports, to understand precisely how ABC Companies and Van Hool motorcoaches offer significant savings while increasing customer satisfaction. The company says Mission 2013 expands live technical support for operators, with the option to use such programs as Facetime and Skype during business hours. Technicians and drivers can expect more specialized training workshops, tech tips, driver’s guides and online Van Hool
Clancy Cornell and Alfons Van Hool sign the papers that seal their successful partnership in 1987.
manuals, as well as engine regeneration and other instructional videos available via the web and mobile devices. “We recognize that an efficient fleet is key to operator success,” he says. “We are committed to partnering with our customers to help them reduce their total cost of operation.”
Feedback put to the test
Jon Savitz, ABC Companies vice president, Business Development, says the recently commissioned major third-party research determines the actual costs of maintaining Van Hool vehicles. ABC Companies engaged Joel Sears, an independent consultant with experience in fleet maintenance software and data analysis, to conduct an analysis of maintenance records across several mixed-fleet operators who shared their data. Sears says the maintenance records they provided covered more than 75 million miles. In addition to the mixed-fleet
A T2140 bus arrives in America. The relationship between ABC and Van Hool in Belgium begins to reshape the American bus market.
BUSRide
operators, his research included one Van Hool-only operator as a control group. Sears analyzed the life-todate parts and labor costs, excluding collision repair, tires and fuel. He kept the individual customer data confidential in accordance with agreements with the participating operators and aggregated the findings of his research for purposes of confidentiality. “Perhaps the most surprising or revealing piece of information indicated in the research was a significant difference in the average maintenance cost-per-mile between comparable coach models,” says Sears. “Overall, the average maintenance cost for Van Hool coaches was 10 cents lower per mile.” According to Sears, 10 cents per mile translates into an average of 33 percent lower maintenance costs for Van Hool coaches against competitive models. According to the research, an operator running a Van Hool motorcoach 70,000 miles a year can expect a projected maintenance cost savings of $7,000 annually. “ABC Companies plans to continue and expand upon this maintenance cost research,” says Cornell. “Our goal is to identify specific components, parts change intervals, and maintenance best practices that may help further reduce total cost of ownership for operators.” Sears is a 36-year veteran of the fleet management industry. He began as an operations research analyst for PHH Arval, the nation’s largest independent fleet leasing company. He eventually founded Fleet Technologies, Inc.
January 2013
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