Examining Total Fleet Maintenance Costs
EXAMINING QUALITY
Quality work is synonymous with safety - for drivers, vehicles, companies and communities. Safety is the reason every fleet professional wants dependable, high-quality maintenance services.
Look for suppliers who have an ongoing quality audit program, and if feasible, perform an unannounced, in-person spot inspection before you make a decision. Not only is this a great way to supplement an understanding of the quality of maintenance a provider is delivering but random audits ensure that a provider is adhering to their own quality standards and satisfies your expectations as well.
PROMOTING QUALITY
Implementing a world-class maintenance operation is never easy, that’s why Amerit recommends that you require a thorough and documented process.
Understand what they do to promote quality:
- What kind of processes are in place?
- How is the quality of the management team?
- What policies surround quality and defects, and the trackability of operations in a visible, consistent way?
All of these things are the hallmarks of a supplier who not only talks quality but lives it every day.
EVALUATING TECHNICIAN PROFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY
Another question you need to ask all third-party vendors is “how do you track and measure technician proficiency?”
Some track come-backs, others track errors in diagnosis, and others request spot inspection reports from similar vehicles before they return to service. Regardless of what you choose to look at, all of these reports require the vendor to have a high degree of transparency and honesty about their operations.
FORGOTTEN COSTS | TRANSPORT
While it seems straightforward, transporting fleet vehicles to and from the garage is a very involved process that can quickly escalate your total costs.
Some forgotten costs include:
- Labor costs
- Mileage
- Fuel
- Vehicle availability
- Tire wear and tear
- Drive/Operator hours
- Shuttle expenses
All of these factors directly impact your costs and should be a part of your pricing comparison between vendors.
Amerit’s custom-built services, both on-site and incorporating a Fleet Service Center next to our client’s fleet, eliminate transport costs and long wait times.
SERVING CUSTOMERS
Customer service may not be an obvious factor, but the wrong treatment should be a deal breaker. Do you feel confident in the supplier? Do you have a strong rapport at the local level? If you have multiple locations, is there a single point of contact or dedicated account manager that you will communicate with for all of your locations?
Amerit takes pride in going the extra mile for our clients. This means working within hours that fit our clients’ needs, operating shifts during fleet’s routine downtimes, and effectively and quickly handling road calls.
CONCLUSION
When examining the total costs of fleet maintenance, it’s important to look at more than just bill rates. Look at all of the factors that affect your total costs and know for sure which provider can handle the entire scope of work while offering the best deal for your fleet’s needs.
At Amerit, we have built our reputation of being the country’s most dependable, trustworthy and hard-working partner through our singular focus on doing one thing and doing it better than anyone else – Fleet Maintenance and Repair Services. Our renowned responsiveness, professionalism and customized service programs are fueled by our core values of partnership and integrity, coupled with our unrelenting drive to do whatever it takes to keep our client’s fleets rolling. Amerit Fleet Solutions is the go-to provider for the most complex and demanding fleets across the country, providing improved uptime, reliability and peace-of-mind.
