Navigating Downtime

When compiling data for our 2024 Fleet Benchmarking Report, we discovered that, on average, Fleetio customers resolve vehicle issues in only 1.68 days. That’s a testament to the agility of their maintenance teams and the processes they have in place for reporting vehicle defects promptly.

So what can you do to bring your fleet efficiency more in line with the industry average? Here are three actionable steps you can take:

1. Eliminate information bottlenecks in your workflows

In many ways, fleet issue management workflows are a lot like a relay race where fleet personnel are the runners and information is the baton.

• Drivers kick the race off by spotting an issue and reporting it.
• Fleet managers pick things up from there by creating a work order for that issue and assigning it to a technician.
• And finally, technicians cross the finish line by completing the work order and marking the issue as resolved.

Essentially, the faster information travels between these roles, the more quickly your organization can remedy any problems your vehicles experience. And while efficiently passing along issue and work order details might sound easy on paper, it can be surprisingly difficult in practice, especially for fleets that rely on phone calls, emails, physical documents or spreadsheets to manage their maintenance.

For example, at many organizations, it’s not uncommon for paper inspection forms detailing vehicle issues to languish for hours while fleet managers are away from their desk or focused on other responsibilities. Similar delays occur when drivers spot vehicle problems in the field but have to wait until they return to base before they can officially document them. Over time, these kinds of holdups cause issues to persist significantly longer than they would if issues were reported and administered with the urgency they demand.

By unifying your fleet operations with mobile-optimized maintenance management software, you can streamline your vehicle issue workflow and eliminate the kinds of operational bottlenecks that delay issue resolutions. The ability to submit vehicle issues from their phones allows drivers to report problems as soon as they spot them from anywhere. Meanwhile, mobility enables fleet managers to convert issues into work orders and delegate technician assignments whether they’re at their desk, in the service bay or out to lunch. This instant exchange of information from anywhere enables fleets to immediately respond to issues and, ultimately, resolve them faster.

2. Rightsize your service personnel

As fleets grow, so do their maintenance needs. And because there’s only so much even the most productive technicians can accomplish, it behooves organizations to regularly assess if their technician headcount is keeping up with their service workload.

To do this, make a point of periodically checking in with your technicians to gauge their thoughts on the volume of work being assigned to them. Anonymous surveys are a great way to collect these opinions in a low-pressure way.

Additionally, make sure to investigate any irregularities that your issue and work order-related reports surface. For example, if you find that work orders are frequently taking longer to complete than anticipated, find out if your time estimates need to be adjusted or if something is causing delays in your shop. If you determine that feelings of being overwhelmed are causing productivity to dip, it might be time to bring on additional technicians.

3. Focus on preventive maintenance

Up to now, we’ve focused on accelerating and optimizing your organization’s responses to vehicle issues, but it’s important to note that fleets can also reduce their resolution times from a different angle. By reducing the severity and frequency of the issues their assets experience, technicians can clear the unplanned work orders that remain with far greater expediency. And by scheduling preventive maintenance (PM), fleets can achieve that effect.

Think about how long it takes to perform a single oil change as opposed to how many hours a technician would need to restore an engine that’s prone to overheating, filled with sludge and partially corroded. In the long run, not only is PM more affordable than running your vehicles until they fail, PM also consumes far less of your mechanics’ time and sidelines your assets for significantly shorter periods of time.

For fleets looking to get started with preventive maintenance, creating PM schedules is a great first step. Vehicle manufacturers publish recommendations on when to perform different service actions (based on mileage and time since purchase), so we advise following their suggestions before making adjustments as needed to best suit how your vehicles are used.