The issue of vehicle downtime – and how to minimise it

Picture this. You’re the operations or logistics manager or supervisor for a large manufacturing business, and in one week multiple delivery vehicles experience mechanical faults that take them off the road and away from customers. Within one working day, the cost of missed deliveries and messed up schedules starts to stack up as you and your team try and fix an issue that is causing unwanted ‘vehicle downtime’. 

In this article, we take a look at what those daily costs are, discuss the common causes, and recommend the steps to reduce the issue.

What is vehicle downtime and why is it such a problem?

Vehicle downtime is a catch-all phrase that covers a number of circumstances that take fleet vehicles off the road – whether that’s a problem before a driver has even started their journey, or something that occurs en route. 

Most commonly this is a parts problem, technical issue, or even an incident or failure to handle weather conditions. Every moment a fleet driver isn’t able to proceed to the delivery point and then get back again is a moment wasted, and a stretch of time (four days off the road is the average) that incurs costs and creates other pain points for the business – including reputational damage and interruptions to usual operations.

Vehicle and fleet downtime: Feeling the impact

The financial impact of vehicle downtime is what you’ll feel hardest and quickest. Repairs and maintenance may rapidly increase your projected overheads and costings.

Add to this the expense and time it may take to replace faulty parts – especially if these are specialised and need to be imported or transported from a great distance. 

Put this into numbers and, according to a survey from Northgate Vehicle Hire, downtime for LCVs equates to a loss of £2.4 billion in the UK per year, which is £800 for every day’s work lost due to an unavailable delivery vehicle.

Then there are indirect costs and long-term consequences, usually if a customer, frustrated at waiting or letting their own customers down, questions your reliability and takes their business elsewhere. This can result in a reputational hit if there are recurring issues with fleet vehicles. 

Reducing vehicle downtime, minimising the issues

Here are our four golden tips to keep your drivers and vehicles on the road…

1. Conduct routine vehicle inspections
   1. Stay one step ahead and spot the potential issues before they become real (and expensive) problems, with regular fleet inspections. By making this part of a daily routine you stay compliant and spot red flags before they cause your vehicles to be un-roadworthy.
2. Track and analyse vehicle health
   1. Schedule maintenance more efficiently by staying on top of vehicle health trends and investing in reputable and recommended vehicle management software and tech. This allows you to both analyse and track your fleet’s condition both in real-time and historically, which in turn helps avoid breakdowns and vehicle downtime. 
3. Monitor driving behaviour
   1. When it comes to overseeing fleets of drivers, monitoring their performance is a priority. A driver’s habits impact wear and tear, and of course road safety and awareness. Common traits that lead to vehicle issues include harsh breaking, incorrect use of gears, and not taking the proper precautions in bad weather. Proper training will not only make the driver a stronger and safer asset to your business but will keep their vehicle in better condition – cutting down on parts replacement and downtime.
4. Make regular maintenance a routine
   1. Underpinning all of the above is the habit of routine servicing - or planned preventative maintenance. It’s this that ensures every vehicle is always in peak condition, thus avoiding breakdowns, mechanical failure, spiralling costs, compliance issues, safety failure and… so much more besides.

By staying ahead of the problem and managing risk, your fleet drivers stay in the driving seat of a moving and delivering vehicle, rather than stuck in the loading bay or repair shop. 

We can help

Make sure your vehicles are good-to-go and fully protected from the downside of downtime by talking to Howden’s team of insurance and risk specialists today at [email protected] 

We don’t just do insurance – we can implement driver training programmes and suggest the correct software, so contact us for further information.