Medium and heavy-duty fleets are more crucial to the supply chain than ever before. And yet, due to inflation and rising labor costs, fleet managers are feeling pinched when trying to keep their budgets and bottom line in check. Fortunately, there are significant savings to consider from outsourcing your maintenance.
We’ve spoken about the value and convenience of having an on-demand maintenance solution. Some fleet managers prefer to have an in-house crew trained explicitly for their vehicles. If your fleet and employee count are appropriately sized, that’s a reasonable choice. But if you don’t have mechanics on your payroll, you need a flexible support system to keep your fleet in shape.
As you navigate the uncertainty of supply chain and labor shortages, which option is best for your needs: in-house or outsourced maintenance?
The Pros and Cons of In-House and Outsourced Fleet Maintenance
If you manage a primarily medium or heavy-duty fleet, you’re presented with a wide range of maintenance obstacles. Not only do you have a higher vehicle acquisition cost upfront, but service costs and downtime expenses are significantly higher than those for light-duty fleets. Managing uptime and overall lifecycle go hand-in-hand for fleet managers, and economic uncertainty can throw a wrench in the best maintenance plans.
If you currently have or have considered an in-house team of mechanics, then you likely prefer to have complete control over your fleet’s maintenance. Owning the equipment and employing an expertly trained mechanic to use it can ease many concerns.
In some cases, managing your preventative maintenance can lead to significant annual savings. These savings can come from completing on-site services after business hours, maximizing utilization, or avoiding additional costs by staying on top of milestones. Unfortunately, there are plenty of other expenses - salary, benefits, equipment upkeep, and replacements - that prevent in-house maintenance from being as viable as possible.
Not only can you extend your budget’s runway, but outsourced maintenance can work around your schedule to minimize downtime, especially if your fleet is spread across the country. You can keep in-house mechanics focused on high-priority tasks by handing off routine preventative maintenance needs to an outside vendor. This combined approach lessens the burdens on your employees while ensuring that every vehicle is properly maintained, thus avoiding unexpected breakdowns or off-time.
From there, the downstream impacts of a two-fold maintenance approach can easily add up in your favor. If you’re an Area Manager with fleets in multiple cities, finding an outsourced maintenance option that serves each of your locations cuts down on a significant amount of overhead. This trickle-down effect can positively impact your Branch Managers or individual Fleet Managers, as they can focus less on preventative maintenance and more on optimizing fleet usage in their location.
If you’re an Area Manager with fleets in multiple cities, finding an outsourced maintenance option that serves each of your locations cuts down on a significant amount of overhead. This trickle-down effect can positively impact your Branch Managers or individual Fleet Managers, as they can focus less on preventative maintenance and more on optimizing fleet usage.
As Aaron Marsh explains in a recent article for Motor.com, “Perhaps the biggest benefit fleets stand to gain from outsourcing maintenance comes back to one of the biggest reasons to keep it in-house: all the control of in-house maintenance also creates quite an administrative burden, which outsourcing can alleviate. There are hiring and human resources needs regarding technicians, risk and safety management, all manner of parts and supplies requisitioning, the paperwork involved and much more.”
Stay Ahead of Preventative Maintenance with Spiffy
If your fleet is struggling to keep up with changing equipment, it’s crucial to find a maintenance option that is up to speed with your unique needs. In most cases, having a combined approach is the best choice for fleet managers. Whether you’re looking to supplement your in-house operations or need a reliable one-vendor option, our team at Spiffy is eager to keep your fleet running at 100%.
Our W2 Technicians are trained to handle the preventative maintenance needs of your vehicles, whether you need oil changes, tire replacements, or exterior and interior cleaning. With our Fleet Management as a Service model, you can rest easy knowing that your fleet’s maintenance is wholly covered - from in-fleeting to de-fleeting and everything in between.
If you’re interested in learning more about bringing Spiffy in to service your fleet, contact us and see how we can help you today!
Posted in Fleet
