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16 APRIL 2016 | EMSWORLD.com N ext to manpower, the biggest outlay in EMS is vehicles and equipment. These days, a fully loaded and clinically equipped ambulance is a six-figure pur- chase. The development of a compre- hensive f leet strategy is a key financial, operational and corporate activity. In order to inform any f leet and vehicle replacement strategy, several factors must be taken into consideration. Key Considerations A fleet "industry standard" states that that an organi- zation should have a fleet size that equates to 133% of its peak-of-day operation. In other words, if an agency needs 20 ambulances to cover its highest hour of requirement, then it should have a total of 26 vehicles to cover for preventive maintenance, off-site repair and any unforeseen issues. The triad of mileage, age and cost are key factors that will inform any plan. The useful life of a vehicle is normally between 150,000 and 250,000 miles at an age of between 4–7 years. Cost in terms of total maintenance versus initial pur- chase cost is also very important (the purchase cost of the vehicle is a known number, the total investment in its life must be understood). For any fleet, be it a commercial carrier or EMS and fire departments, vehicles must be available for service and mechani- cally viable in order to remain operationally efficient. As with every decision in modern-day EMS, data and the ability to understand it play a major part in developing your strategy: Vehicle Availability Understanding lost unit hours (UH) and downtime for every piece of equipment is important. Establish a database to count the time or days each vehicle is not available for service due to a mechanical issue or period of preventative maintenance. Preventative maintenance is important to consider because com- paring the out-of-service time will allow the type of vehicle and consideration of a different style to become clearer. An example would be to compare Cover Report by Dan Fellows & Rob Lawrence, MCMI How t o D evel o p a Fleet Replacement Strateg y Many factors need to be considered when replacing emergency vehicles