Why you should take fleet maintenance

One of the biggest costs involved in running a fleet vehicle is the servicing, maintenance and repairs aspect of running a vehicle. Keeping the vehicle on the road and minimising downtime is critical if the vehicle is intended to be used on company business, or simply even for the convenience of the driver. Whilst it is possible to simply take the vehicle to a local garage, you may end up paying over the odds for a job or pay for jobs that are unnecessary. Leasing and fleet management companies will both offer maintenance management that can reduce the time you spend dealing with the maintenance requests, and the cost of it. Choosing the right SMR partner – the benefits: Get maintenance on a pay-as-you-go basis or include it in your monthly lease for easy budgeting Preferential rates due to enhanced purchasing power, reducing costs Leasing companies often employ expert teams of maintenance controllers who will treat your costs as if they’re their own, approving maintenance spends before they’re actioned to ensure that unnecessary costs are avoided, saving you time and money. Maintenance management may also include tyres, glass and breakdown cover, to reduce vehicle downtime. This may include a relief vehicle to keep your directors and senior managers moving. Trend analysis and proactive fleet management can lead to preventive servicing, fixing any vehicle issues before they become a bigger problem and saving expense in the long run. Smart systems can track progress of servicing and maintenance, allowing controllers to see where a job is and push it on if the work is taking too long. How to choose the right SMR partner: Decide your organisational needs. An account manager at a leasing company can help you define this and help shape your policy. Seek a partner. A partnership with a provider goes a lot further than a buyer-seller relationship. A fleet leasing company can be made to work for you, allowing you to get on with business critical tasks whilst the leasing company manages your drivers, vehicles and maintenance. Seek to integrate SMR with your vehicle provider. Many of them will have preferred partners in the industry and will benefit from stringent SLAs. Close integration between the provider and SMR partner will lead to further cost-reduction and time-saving. Accident Management In addition to servicing and maintenance, you may benefit from accident management. In the event of an accident, the driver can call a dedicated number and be put through to a controller, who will handle the accident process from the initial incident through to the recovery and repair of the vehicle, and any subsequent claim. Summary Choosing maintenance with your contract hire provider can have serious time-saving and cost-reducing benefits. Pendragon Vehicle Management offer maintenance management and accident management as part of our full-service fleet management solution. As we are a division of Pendragon PLC – the automotive giant behind Stratstone and Evans Halshaw – we can leverage our group’s maintenance network to provide cost-effective servicing, maintenance and repair, accessible through our dedicated driver helpline and monitored by a team of expert maintenance controllers who will closely manage your vehicles through the process to reduce downtime. Talk to us to see how we can help you with your fleet.