If your organization currently operates its own private fleet, choosing a dedicated fleet solution can free up capital currently tied to costly equipment such as trucks and trailers, and the heavy maintenance associated with running this expensive equipment. If it’s nearing time for your organization to replace and purchase new equipment for your private fleet, now might be the perfect time to explore an outsourcing option, especially with new regulations on the horizon, GHG phase 3, and CARB CTCs (Clean Truck Checks).
At Ruan, we offer equipment branding for our customers, ensuring you maintain brand awareness on the road by utilizing our equipment. We act as an extension of your team. Plus, the headache of purchasing and maintaining equipment can be handed over to Ruan and our skilled maintenance and assets teams. Maintenance Operations Leader, Ben Steines, and Vice President of Procurement and Asset Management, Brad Gehring, lead some of these efforts.
With vendor partnerships all over the country, we are able to find service solutions no matter where our equipment is operating. These partnerships allow us to maintain a high level of uptime, control costs, and keep the wheels rolling for our customers. Coupled with consistent and standardized repair and inspection procedures, we can keep everything on track and running smoothly.
With continuing supply chain disturbances and the ongoing backorder of many equipment parts, our team’s vendor relationships provide us and all our regional maintenance managers with backlog reports so that our team can be more proactive with demand planning and ordering of crucial equipment parts. This allows us to be on top of any replacements and repairs, avoiding any disruptions of service on our end.
Additionally, our relationships with our equipment vendors and dealers give us purchasing power that benefits our customers as we are able to pass on these savings to them. Ruan invests in late-model equipment with evolving technology, which allows for greater intervals between service needs.
Can you talk about our team’s maintenance expertise on all of our equipment, including specialized?
Our maintenance team is committed to completing relevant, up-to-date and extensive training ranging from leadership and management to technical topics like advanced vehicle electrical systems and after treatment. Each of our shops set aside time for paid technician training on a monthly basis. Specific specialized equipment training is provided for technicians in shops working with cryogenic gases, bulk tanks, and hazmat equipment.
Talk about the team’s tenure and high levels of service.
Each of our Ruan maintenance team members is empowered to operate their shop as their own business with a focus on providing top notch customer service while controlling costs. We take pride in our team member’s longevity with Ruan and celebrate milestone anniversaries as a team. We’ve found that the breadth and depth of experience on our maintenance team is unmatched in the industry and sharing our knowledge, best practices and wins with others is a cornerstone of our culture.
What is the maintenance shop network at Ruan like?
We assign all our equipment to an individual maintenance manager that is responsible for tailoring a maintenance solution for each piece of equipment using both our extensive company shop network and vendor partners. We’ve found through time that this method provides for the flexibility, uptime focus and quality of service that we demand, all while keeping an eye on costs and efficiency. We are proud to treat each piece of equipment as our own, no matter where it’s located.
Can you talk about some of the regulations that are constantly changing?
The industry is always undergoing transitions, and change is constantly occurring. Our team manages all of the compliance to federal and individual state regulations on everything from weights and permitting to emissions testing and CARB compliance. With our long-term view of what success looks like, we keep our fingers on the pulse of the changing compliance environment and all our teams in alignment with what the impact will be on our business. With the high level of uncertainty throughout our entire segment, having a steady, expert resource to manage complexity is invaluable to fleets.
Are there regulations that fleets should be focused on as it nears upcoming equipment replacements?
The EPA has announced a final rule for GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions that introduces a stronger set of standards that heavy-duty vehicles will soon have to follow beginning in the year 2027. This rule is focused on reducing CO2 emissions, which will improve overall fuel economy. There are still some other major regulations under review, but these are ones to focus on in the years to come.
Even if these rules change, it is likely that due process and legal challenges will extend past the implementation date.
CARB compliance and regulations have many requirements that fleets need to be aware of. For any company who operates trucks within or even that enter and exit California need to be registered in the CARB database along with each of the associated units. These units also need to be continuously monitored through a CTC(Clean Truck Check) to ensure they are meeting these requirements in an effort to reduce emissions. The CTC compliance requirements state that the deadline for vehicles subject to these requirements is December 31, 2025. Now is a good time to ensure your trucks meet these standards and have the certificates needed to operate.
What is the life cycle process of our equipment?
Our power units typically operate for 5 years, or 550,000 miles. As of the end of Q1 2025, our average age on our power fleet was 25.4 months. The life cycle of our trailers vary based on the type, but the typical range is from 7-15 years with refrigerated trailers on the shorter life cycle and specialty tank on the longer life cycle. The average age of our trailer fleet is 7.8 years. A huge benefit that comes with partnering with a dedicated provider like Ruan is not only our purchasing power that allows us to pass on these savings to our customers, but also our end of cycle process that allows us to sell our used equipment at a competitive rate. Our full-service life cycle handling relieves your company the stress of managing this continuous cycle of equipment.
What are we doing to make sure we keep up-to-date on these life cycles?
Every year we conduct an RFP with all tractor and trailer OEMs to understand pricing, lead times and any changes in the marketplace. Then, we select an OEM to partner with on our replacement and growth needs for the upcoming year to stay in line with life cycle needs.
Interested in learning more or have an upcoming RFP? Fill out the form below! We would love to be a resource when the time is right.