Fleet Maintenance Trends & The Road Ahead
For two-plus years, a variety of macroeconomic trends – supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, inflationary pressures, etc. – have pushed vehicle maintenance costs significantly higher. In fact, repair costs jumped by as much as 20 percent during the first half of 2023 in some segments of the industry. While these conditions have stabilized in recent months and maintenance costs have leveled off slightly, fleet managers still face lingering challenges.
Recently, Holman Director of Fleet Management Services Chris Foster spoke with Automotive Fleet to share his perspective on the latest maintenance trends impacting the fleet industry and provide his forecast for the road ahead. In the article, Chris predicted that maintenance and repair expenses are likely to continue to increase slightly in certain areas, but noted that they are unlikely to climb at the same rate as previous years.
Chris also highlighted that, generally speaking, preventative maintenance (PM) services (oil changes, tire rotations, brake replacements, etc.) are not the main driver of maintenance expense increases but rather a spike in the costs associated with unexpected or catastrophic repairs.
“Supply chain disruptions have severely limited the number of new vehicles fleet operators have been able to order. As a result, older vehicles remained in service much longer than initially anticipated, requiring additional maintenance. The repairs occurring late in a vehicle’s lifecycle are often much more significant and costly — engine replacements, transmissions, etc.”
Chris also touched on how electric vehicles (EVs) are influencing fleet maintenance expenses. He said that it is still too early to accurately assess the long-term impact of EVs on maintenance costs. However, he shared that since EVs are typically much heavier, they experience increased brake and tire wear. As a result, these components may require more frequent replacement.
Chris wrapped up the article by providing several tips for fleet managers seeking to effectively control maintenance expenses and downtime, such as:
- Adhere to preventive maintenance schedules
- Use full-service repair facilities
- Review maintenance approval processes for aged assets
- Review vehicle cycling and utilization strategies
- Hold fleet drivers accountable for completing maintenance
- Use telematics to optimize maintenance best practices
- Align with national account vendors to leverage volume pricing
To read the entire article, please visit Automotive-Fleet.com. To stay up-to-date on the latest industry trends and receive advice for navigating these lingering disruptions, be sure to subscribe to Holman’s Morning Brake newsletter.
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