Lead Time (OTD)

Lead time is the gap between the order and the vehicle. For a stock sedan it may be weeks; for a vocational unit built in two stages it can run well beyond a year.

The public-sector complication is the fiscal year. Appropriations often have to be committed within a budget period, while delivery lands in a later one, so a fleet is routinely spending this year money on next year vehicles. Miss the window and the appropriation may lapse entirely, which is a far worse outcome than paying slightly more.

Manufacturer order banks and allocation windows impose their own calendar, independent of the agency. An order placed after a model-year cutoff may not simply be late; it may not be buildable, and the fleet re-enters the queue.

The consequence is that a replacement schedule has to be planned backwards from delivery rather than forwards from budget approval. Fleets that consistently take delivery on time are usually the ones that started the specification and solicitation work a year ahead of the vehicles being needed.