Keeping downtime to a minimum is vital for fleet operators, and mastering your downtime strategy can have a huge impact on your costs.
Throughout this blog post, we’ll explore some popular strategies for minimising downtime and what a good accident management provider should offer to minimise your vehicle off-road time.
How downtime hits fleets where it hurts
Extended vehicle downtime poses several challenges for businesses, not least the commercial impact. Having vehicles off the road can be seriously disruptive, so working with a partner focused on managing downtime enables your operation to continue operating effectively and efficiently.
Minimising downtime is even more vital for businesses that rely on the timely delivery of goods or services to succeed. When a vehicle is out of commission, it can have a knock-on effect on the entire business.
Fewer vehicles on the road can have a financial impact and also lead to increased employee workloads, meaning a higher chance of job dissatisfaction.
So, to avoid these challenges, it's wise to explore strategies to ensure your vehicles are back on the road as quickly as possible following an incident.
Strategies to minimise your fleet downtime
You can explore several avenues when looking to minimise vehicle off-road times.
1. Introduce risk analysis
For businesses that depend on their fleet, understanding risks on the road and managing these risks is imperative.
Many risks can be avoided with a recurring driver assessment and risk analysis programme that can highlight any bad habits the driver may have.
Additionally, a well-maintained fleet serviced in accordance with OEM guidelines will not only perform more efficiently but also help minimise risk.
Capturing vehicle data and analysing driver behaviour can allow businesses to spot risks such as abrupt lane switching, sudden braking or gear changes, which can potentially result in accidents and, therefore, downtime.
2. Use your data
Using telematics data to monitor vehicle and driver performance and behaviour is a proactive step towards minimising risk.
Understanding the data enables potential risks to be identified and preventative measures to be taken.
Using your data to identify risks can help you evaluate your service and maintenance schedules and implement driver risk training programmes tailored to preventing incidents, ultimately reducing downtime.
3. Ensure a quick and reliable FNOL process
It's impossible to completely prevent incidents from happening. However, the speed at which incidents are reported can greatly impact downtime and other costs.
Delayed First Notification of Loss (FNOL) can negatively impact the entire claims journey, so it's vital to ensure your incidents are reported quickly and with the required information.
The faster the necessary information is given to the service provider, the sooner the claims journey begins and the lower the impact of vehicle downtime and associated claim costs. Capturing the right information is also key, as you won’t have to go back for additional details, saving time and streamlining the process.
4. Choose an incident management provider
The effectiveness of a fleet often depends on how well it manages downtime when incidents occur, predicts problems before they happen and meets business SLAs.
Incidents and breakdowns can happen at any time and impact even the most organised fleets, so partnering with a specialist provider that’s an expert in their sector can help manage the entire process.
A reputable accident management partner will facilitate 24/7/365 FNOL, deploy damaged vehicles into a trusted network of repairers and arrange suitable replacement vehicles to keep your fleet moving.
You'll have direct access to the skill sets provided by an accident management partner, meaning your employees won't be burdened by additional responsibilities.
There's also the additional value of data insights for fleet management. Benefit from concise reports that facilitate better business decisions for your fleet, contributing to saved costs and greater efficiency.
What to look for in an accident management partner
Accident management providers can offer several benefits to your fleet, and a good provider will facilitate the following:
- Manage downtime
- Reduce unexpected costs
- Greater efficiency
- One single point of contact.
So, what should you look for in an accident management provider to earn these benefits for your fleet?
Your chosen partner will provide comprehensive support throughout the incident management process. From the moment an incident occurs, they’ll handle all aspects, including reporting the incident, coordinating repairs, arranging a suitable replacement vehicle, managing paperwork and handling insurance claims.
A reputable provider will make this process even more worthwhile by having an extensive repair network to provide high-quality repairs and the infrastructure in place to provide suitable replacement vehicles for its customers.
When it comes to downtime, a good provider will balance cost and quality assurance, which is where crucial expertise comes in.
Repairing vehicles at the lowest labour rates may not always be the cheapest or best option, and a reputable accident management provider can help you balance expenses versus high-quality, timely repairs.
By choosing a lower labour rate for repairs, your fleet may experience extended downtime outside of the estimated completion date (ECD), increasing the financial impact and cost on business operations.
This extra downtime could be due to low bodyshop capacity or a lack of necessary skills to handle more complex repairs — all of which can be improved by access to a trusted network of repairers.
When your vehicles are out of action for an extended period, you have to consider a robust mobility solution to lessen the impact on your operations. An accident management partner can deploy mobility for your business, allowing you to stick to your schedule and deadlines while repairs are made.
Once repairs are complete, your incident management partner can compare the cost of repair with your repair bill to ensure that they match, potentially saving further costs for your bottom line.
Why choose Motor Assist?
When you work with Motor Assist, we listen to the problems your fleet is facing, understand them and configure a framework to resolve them.
Our fully modular solutions adapt to your needs — not the other way around.
Our 24/7/365 FNOL service, backed by our extensive network of trusted repairers, helps significantly reduce fleet downtime and ensure effective and seamless information capture from the first point of contact.
Aided by the guidance of our expert team and achieved through diligent information capture, we’ll ensure the correct decision on repair routes, keeping your downtime and costs to a minimum.
From the point of FNOL, we triage and deploy services quickly and offer enhanced visibility into repairs via CAPS integration.
Outside of downtime management, we’re proud to offer EV for EV replacement vehicle guarantees for non-fault incidents, meaning a streamlined experience for your EV fleet.
Plus, our team of sector-dedicated account managers mean you’ll have one point of ownership to liaise with, further enhancing the efficiency of your working relationship with us.
So, how much can you save?
There are many ways that we can help your fleet cut costs.
We’ve put together a calculator that takes your current fleet data and provides you with the potential cost savings you could make by working with Motor Assist. Calculate them here.
