Running an entire fleet isn’t an easy task. Between managing hundreds of cars, trucks, and equipment, your work is made out for you.
One of the toughest aspects of managing fleets of any size is cutting fleet maintenance costs where it makes sense. However, deciding what to skip on and where to spend can be stressful.
Are you making more work for yourself by ignoring preventative maintenance in order to save some money? Could you be damaging your business’s efficiency by focusing on spending less on maintaining the fleet that supports your business?
These are all valid questions. So what could you do in the immediate future when budgets need restructuring? In order to find ways to reduce fleet spend, look internally. Is your technology out of date? How much could you save simply by switching the type of vendors you use?
We know, this is a lot to take in.
For some tips, read our 3 effective ways to drastically lower your fleet maintenance spend.
Expect the Unexpected – and Plan for it
Preventative maintenance compliance is kind of like your reminder that it’s time to go to the dentist. Maybe not the most enticing thing, but a necessary step in keeping you away from expensive dental work.
Sometimes, those reminders can fall by the wayside. That’s why we’ve taken steps to make your life easier with eCoupon. Its intuitive software allows you to see just when you’ll actually need to take your trucks in for a tire change, or when your company fleet vehicles are due for oil. With proper utilization, the tool has saved major fleets more than 7% in expenses.
The term “eCoupon” stems from those sheets of coupons we all remember receiving through snail mail. For us, we prefer our savings, deals, and offers via email, SMS messages, or notifications through our mobile app – not clipped together in a junk drawer. eCoupon notifications are only sent out when it’s time to service your vehicles. Their value lies in saving you money in unexpected maintenance expenses.
eCoupon continuously monitors a vehicle’s maintenance schedule and history. This, in turn, maximizes driver responsiveness when it comes to maintenance schedules. For you, it helps minimize overall maintenance spend. Score.
Downtime Management
Did you know that often the cost of your vehicles, when they’re down, is more expensive than the costs of their repair? Think about it: if your fleet vehicles are down for maintenance for days, how much business is this costing you? If a company vehicle is unable to be driven by your salespeople for more than several days, how many deals weren’t closed? How much would it all have cost you if you prevented this from escalating?
Oliver Zerhusen, VP of maintenance, accident products, and supplier management, says that as a fleet manager, you must learn to work with vendors to get vehicles back on the road as fast as possible. According to Zerhusen, the cost impact of downtime is often underestimated and minimizing downtime is not always an easy task.
“It starts with using vendors that are in tune to the needs of getting your vehicles serviced in a timely manner,” Zerhusen said. “This is so they can get back into operation and generate revenue for your business. It’s especially true for trucks where the cost of downtime is typically much higher than, for example, passenger cars.”
The cost of downtime (especially in your truck fleet) should be reduced in order to reduce your fleet maintenance spend. You reduce downtime by keeping up with preventative maintenance to lower the risk of catastrophic failures.
Don’t Leave Your Open Vehicle Recalls Waiting
Minimizing recalls in your fleet might seem impossible. You can’t predict the unpredictable, but you can use data to historically analyze what has a higher likelihood of getting recalled. With more than 50 million vehicles recalled each year in the US, you’re bound to have at least one model recalled in your experience as a fleet manager.
“We have moved into a world where recalls are very common. OEMs now err on the side of caution and more readily issue recall campaigns. If you don’t take care of those, it has an impact on vehicle safety and resale values,” Zerhusen said.
Recall inSIGHT provides recall information on all leased vehicles and distinguishes by type of recall and its severity.
Working with a system that provides full visibility to see and scan through your leased vehicles takes the confusion out of recall management. It’s like looking into the future to secure a low-maintenance fleet that won’t get sent back in a few months.
“With Recall inSIGHT, we can consult with customers to help them reduce the number of impacted vehicles on the road. When you take care of the issues, customers will see a reduced number of recalled vehicles and see some positive impact through lower accidents and potential
Not all recalls will have the same urgency, but you couldn’t know that unless you’ve got the tools to tell you so. Recall inSight has the ability to scale your recalled vehicles in urgency from 1-5. With this knowledge, you’re able to take action to complete recalls ASAP.
Try not to fret over the onboarding or initial fees when moving to a fleet management company. Keep your focus on the long road – and learn the tips and tricks we’ve associated with lower fleet maintenance spend.
