Running a fleet of vehicles is one of the largest overhead costs for many businesses. Vehicles require both time and money – they must be serviced and maintained regularly and managed effectively. And then there are the drivers, who need license checks, risk assessments and training, as well as a host of other administration tasks that need to be completed.
Outsourced preventative maintenance provides fleet managers with an opportunity to take some stress of their plate. They need to relieve some of the time-consuming tasks that come with managing a fleet, whether large or small. It could be that outsourcing your preventative maintenance are just what you need to accomplish this task.
Outsourcing your preventative maintenance needs can lower your businesses’ costs to a large degree. Dealing with preventative maintenance directly could have you paying more than necessary for parts and labor. After all, you must procure the parts, pay the technicians, and then ensure everything is in proper working order.
Conversely, when you outsource your preventative maintenance needs, you will pay the PM vendor. In the end, it is very likely you pay them less than what you would spend conducting it in-house. Outsourcing means you pay the fleet management provider, which will have access to negotiated rates and volume discounts, saving your business lots of money. Outsourcing fleet management also means you can monitor your costs effectively as your provider will give you detailed reporting on where and how your fleet costs are being incurred. Let’s dig deeper into the pros and cons of outsourced PM.
What Are the Pros and Cons?
Certainly, there are cons to every pro, and there are many reasons why conducting your preventative maintenance in-house carries some downsides. When a trucking company manages preventative maintenance in-house, there is a lot to consider when it comes to accountability and documentation. Who keeps track of vehicle mileage, maintenance dates, and specific maintenance actions taken?
Furthermore, the problem is compounded if there are internal personnel changes within the company or trucks in different locations. When your technicians change and your trucks are scattered around, you might not be able to count on the accuracy of your maintenance reporting. Outsourcing your preventative maintenance needs ensures record-keeping and tracking remain dependable no matter the situation.
Also consider that in most trucking companies the maintenance department is not generally considered an integral part of the fleet’s overall operational strategy. As a result, budget and human resource items can often fall by the wayside. Outsourced maintenance providers prevent these kinds of lapses from happening.
Internal Knowledge Growth and Capacity Management
PM vendors and outsource providers are professionals in their field. They come with a lot of experience backing them. They have extensive knowledge about different aspects of the industry and will be able to provide specialist advice and information that you may not have access to on the inside. This knowledge can be passed on from the fleet management specialist to your business in certain areas.
With an outsourced PM program, your internal staff is freed up to do other things. This means less time and money is spent on vehicle maintenance. This offers great benefit as you have extra available resources. You will also have extra time that can be spent focusing on other aspects of the business. Additionally, an external provider will be better positioned to adjust should you find you need to increase or reduce your fleet size or introduce additional services.
Working with PM industry specialists carries additional benefits. Often, they better understand the different risks within your fleet. Internal risk management can be troublesome as internal staff may be unaware of risks, or unsure of how to manage them. Risk management is often something that trips up fleet managers and trucking company executives. When you outsource preventative maintenance services, industry experts provide advice or specialist support to help you manage the relevant business risks.
How to Set Up an Outsourced PM Relationship
When you choose an outsourced PM provider, make sure you set it up with a solid contract. Make sure your provider offers flexibility and control along with cost savings and increased operational effectiveness. Consider that every trucking operation is unique, so you need to choose a partner that can accommodate your specific business type.
It is important to note, however, that it isn’t always in a company’s best interest to outsource their PM operation. The cost of operating your shop, parts inventory, technician hiring, and training are all expensive. But you need to make sure your PM vendor checks all those boxes. The benefits of outsourced PM must be carefully weighed against your business type as well as internal costs and operations.
Outsourcing is a good option for trucking companies who have significant budget and cost pressures. Trucking companies that may go through acquisitions or major reorganization may also want to consider outsourcing so that they can focus on the internal changes within the company.
With so many truck drivers and technicians retiring, outsourcing may be a good option. With the employment squeeze hitting every industry, finding qualified workers is not easy. Thus, using an outsourced preventative maintenance company prevents trucking companies from having to deal with those problems.
Should You Take a Hybrid Approach?
Many fleets won’t work well with a one-size-fits-all solution. It may be beneficial for trucking companies to try a hybrid approach, here some preventative maintenance is done in house and the rest done by a third-party vendor.
Here is an example of what that might look like. A trucking company may handle maintenance in house for a subset of their fleet such as light-duty vehicles or specialty equipment but retains responsibility for maintaining the remainder of the fleet.
You can also consider geographic maintenance outsourcing. Do this by giving vehicles at remote locations to a provider while keeping vehicles at central locations in-house. The solution that ultimately is the most effective for the organization depends heavily on the unique situation.
If you are struggling with your maintenance or preventative maintenance needs, consider third-party maintenance outsourcing as a solution. Smart fleet managers utilize these services all the time to ensure their trucking companies operate efficiently and effectively.
Remember that it doesn’t necessarily come down to size. Small fleets can manage their own maintenance in-house, but it may benefit them to work with a vendor who can save them costs. Fleet managers have many responsibilities and come from different backgrounds and may or may not be able to also handle maintenance. Cost is a big factor when fleet managers evaluate vendor relationships. Don’t hesitate in your decision making simply because you have money on the mind. In the end, you must do what is right for your fleet.
Benefit That Come with Your Own Shop
With in-house maintenance, your technicians work exclusively on your fleet’s vehicles and specific equipment, rather than having to work on other types of vehicles. They become intimately familiar with them. That means technicians have more of an opportunity to become specialists on the fleet’s particular vehicles and accompanying parts such as with up-fit bodies. The result? Over time, in-house shop technicians are likelier to be working on familiar hardware.
A fleet with its own shop also has more power over scheduling, among all the other factors over which it can exercise control. That means the fleet can guarantee bay space and time to high-priority maintenance jobs as necessary, rather than potentially having to wait longer for a CMV or truck to be taken in and serviced at an outside shop. This is especially true when an emergency occurs. Your own shop can deal with and handle urgent needs without having to incur emergency service fees. Outsourced preventative maintenance vendors may find they have too much work on hand to handle your emergency need.
In the end, you may be wondering, should I outsource my fleet management needs? If you’re thinking about taking on maintenance responsibility in-house versus outsourced, there are important considerations. First, you must get that experience and education within your company. What costs are associated with ensuring your technicians are properly uptrained?
If your people are properly trained and can handle the job, fantastic. When working with outside vendors, you must evaluate those vendor relationships. Do you have a strong accounts payable/accounts receivable team that’s going to receive those invoices, check against records and make sure that there hasn’t been a duplicated invoice? These are things you must consider. Conduct your due diligence and weigh it against your fleet budget and you’ll be sure to make the right decision.