In a busy rental operation, it can be difficult to determine if a particular class of vehicle is overbooked on any given date in the future. This report is designed to give the operator a picture of the anticipated availability for each vehicle class.

The Fleet Forecasting Report works in the following manner:

  1. CARS+ maintains a "Planning Calendar" file for each class of vehicle at every location. Each day on this calendar is divided into time periods, as defined in the Edit Time Periods File.
  2. When multiple locations are geographically close and vehicles can be easily shuttled between the locations, the concept of a "metroplex" can be used. This concept considers all vehicles at multiple locations as one group on the Planning Calendar.
  3. When either a reservation, RA, or Non-Rev is entered, the system blocks out one unit for the appropriate time periods on the days involved. This results in the number of units "committed" for each date in the future.
  4. The calendar also tracks anticipated fleet size. This can be adjusted with anticipated purchases and sales as explained in the Introduction to Planning chapter of the manual.
  5. The Fleet Forecasting Report compares these numbers (the number of units in each Class and the number of "committed" units in each Class.) The difference between these numbers-- which is the number of available units - is reported. Negative availability is indicated by the minus sign.

To access the Fleet Forecasting Report program, type FORECAST (RET) at any menu "OPTION:" field or the appropriate line number on the Planning menu. The screen will then display:

OPTION: __ FLEET FORECASTING REPORT

1. Location TUS
2. Class
(Enter 1 Class Group OR up to 15 Class Codes)
3. Start date 01-17-18
4. End date LATEST
5. Time Periods Y
6. Include Assets? (Y/N/O) N
7. Print/Disp/CSV P Printer: PDF
8. Location Detail (Y/N) N



1BEGIN 2 3ERASE 4 5BACKUP 6 7HELP 8

Enter data as follows:

1. LOCATION

Enter:

1. Up to 6 alphanumeric characters to select a single location.

2. A Group Name representing several locations (see the Chapter Edit Group Names for a discussion on location groups). Remember, the first character of a Group Name is the plus sign "+".

3. A Group Name representing a Metroplex. When multiple locations are geographically close and vehicles can be easily shuttled between the locations, the concept of a "metroplex" can be used. In metroplex logic, all the vehicles at the locations belonging to a metroplex are equally available to all locations within that group.This grouping works not only with this report but also is part of the interactive warning and overbooking messages provided when attempting to book a reservation for a date that is overbooked.

A Group Name must be created for a metroplex, and the group. A name must be entered in the appropriate field of the Location control record to take advantage of the metroplex logic. (Refer to the Edit Locations chapter for more information about the metroplex concept.)

4. "ALL" to include ALL locations.

EXAMPLE: Type TUS (RET)

User tip: Note that when more than one location is selected, the numbers that print represent all included locations. Separate numbers do not print for each location.

2. CLASS (up to 15)

This field can define:

A single Class: Enter up to 4 alphanumeric characters to indicate a single Class of vehicle to be reported.

EXAMPLE: Type CCAR

Up to 15 Class codes separated by commas.

EXAMPLE: Type CCAR,ICAR,SCAR,PCAR,MVAR,XFAR

All Classes.

EXAMPLE: PRESS (RET)

A Class Group: Enter a valid Class Group as defined in the program Edit Class Groups (EDITCLGP).

EXAMPLE: Type +JCP (RET)

3. START DATE

Using your selected date format, enter the Starting Date. Press RET to default to today's date.

EXAMPLE: Press (RET)

4. END DATE

Using your selected date format, enter the Ending Date. Press RET to default to the "LATEST" date through which the Planning Calendar has been extended.

EXAMPLE: Type 041618 (RET)

5. TIME PERIODS

Enter:

Y = Yes, show detail numbers for each time period for each day.

N = No, don't show individual time periods. Instead, show the count for the lowest availability of the day and for the last time period of each day.

EXAMPLE: Type N (RET)
6. INCLUDE ASSETS
 This field refers to non-vehicle assets (such as GPS units) that are inventoried. Enter:
Y = Yes, include non-vehicle assets in the report
N = No, do not include non-vehicle assets in the report (include only vehicles)
O = Report only non-vehicle assets
EXAMPLE: Type Y (RET)

7. PRINT/
DISPLAY

Enter:

P = Print a hard copy of this report on your terminal's assigned printer. See the Edit Terminal Records Chapter on how to assign printers.

D = Display this report on your terminal screen. See the General Data Entry instructions Chapter on how to control the screen display.

EXAMPLE: Type P (RET)
8. LOCATION DETAIL
 This field is used to define the report layout when it is run for a Location Group in field 1. Enter:

Y = Yes, show availability for each individual location in the group and then the availability of the whole group combined.

N = No, only show the available of the combined group.

EXAMPLE: Type N (RET)

The screen will then display:

OPTION: __ FLEET FORECASTING REPORT

1. Location TUS
2 Class CCAR
(Enter 1 Class Group OR up to 15 Class Codes)
3. Start date 01-17-18
4. End date 04-16-18
5. Time Periods N
6. Include Assets (Y/N/O) Y
7. Print/Disp/CSV P Printer: PDF
8. Location Detail? (Y/N) N

1BEGIN 2 3ERASE 4 5BACKUP 6 7HELP 8

PRESS "F1" AT "OPTION:" TO BEGIN.