It's surprising how much vehicle downtime can affect the whole fleet. An unplanned breakdown of a vehicle or any other machine not only affects operations for the time it is unavailable but can also eat into your business' profits.
Let’s dive into the causes and solutions of unplanned downtime.
Vehicle downtime is not uncommon, in fact; sometimes, a vehicle’s unavailability is planned for and expected, but when a vehicle suddenly can't be used for days or weeks at a time due to an incident that is out of the fleet manager's control, this can quickly become a problem.
This is when a vehicle is not used for a period of time for reasons such as a breakdown, accident, maintenance issues, or even vehicle theft. If the cause of vehicle unavailability is poor maintenance or fuel issues, it can be categorised as planned downtime, as the fleet manager has weighed the risks and decided to schedule the vehicle to get repaired. But there's no preparation for unplanned downtime.
It might sound like a small issue at first glance, but vehicle downtime can quickly become very costly and disruptive, affecting the whole fleet if not swiftly managed.
There are several causes that render a vehicle unable to fulfil its daily duties, such as:
Earlier in the year, in Singapore, there were numerous fatal accidents reported due to distracted driving and blatant disregard for road rules or recommended driving behaviour. The road traffic fatality rate has increased in the short span between 2020 and 2023, showing that around two out of 100,000 people died from a road accident.
These top reasons for vehicle downtime all affect the fleet differently. Sure, some issues, like road conditions and fuel-related matters, can be quickly fixed with minimal damage, but other issues like risky driver behaviour that causes accidents or poor fleet maintenance that affects vehicle health, can go beyond costs. These can damage your business's reputation, negatively affect customer satisfaction, and even impact insurance rates.
Let’s see how far it can impact a fleet.
An underutilised vehicle can cost the business precious time and profit. If a vehicle is left idling for long periods, it might develop wear and tear simply from not being used. This can result in the need for extra maintenance or replacements, which will cost the business even more.
Now, imagine what happens when an asset is unavailable for days at a time and not being used at all. This greatly influences the fleet’s operational flow and can cost the business the time and repair, replacement, or maintenance costs it needs to get it up and running again.
Here are other ways unplanned downtime affects businesses:
1. Costs
Since the unavailable vehicle can't deliver goods or perform services, sometimes businesses lose revenue, which can impact the business’s bottom line. There's also the cost of paying drivers for unplanned time off or replacement vehicle costs if you had to temporarily lease another vehicle during the period. Last but not least, there is the cost of getting your vehicles back on duty; this might depend on the cause of the downtime.
2. Impact on delivery schedule
When a vehicle is out of service, it affects all scheduled deliveries. Of course, you can re-assign the tasks to another vehicle, but the time it takes to change plans and update routes for that vehicle can also be quite long, especially if the downtime is unexpected. Due to delivery delays, fleet managers may not have enough time to update clients and manage their expectations, which can affect customer satisfaction.
3. Impact on business operations
Fleet managers sometimes have to reallocate resources and tasks to other drivers and vehicles due to unplanned downtime. This change of plans sometimes affects the whole operation and negatively influences productivity. If downtime is expected, managers can quickly curtail delays and missed deadlines by ensuring their team is prepared for the change.
It’s estimated that unplanned downtime can cost a business an average of $448-$760 per day per vehicle, but depending on vehicle type, industry, frequency of downtime, and period, these amounts can quickly add up. According to a report by SOTI, the cost of downtime in the T&L industry is estimated to be around a whopping $3.3 billion USD per year.
So, how do you effectively deal with unplanned downtime? In this case, a solution like preventive maintenance is ideal for managing unplanned downtime.
For a quick solution, many businesses simply allocate the duties of the unavailable vehicle to another. This approach might work for delivery vehicles, but it might not be as effective for vehicles that also perform a service, such as construction vehicles (cranes, bulldozers, excavators, etc.).
It's better to prevent this issue from occurring with regular maintenance check-ups than to wait till unplanned downtime of assets occurs, and you only react to the issue.
Preventative maintenance does exactly that.
It’s better to prevent issues from ever occurring than to simply react to them once they have happened. This goes against the ‘If it’s not broken, don't fix it rule’ but the results are worth it. Preventive maintenance is taking the necessary steps, like vehicle servicing and checkups, to keep your vehicle in tip-top shape.
Think of preventive maintenance (or preventative maintenance) as a proactive shield against unexpected breakdowns. These are the regular pre-trip and monthly maintenance check-ups that you would do to ensure your vehicles run as efficiently as they did the day they were bought. Practising preventive maintenance helps businesses identify, predict, and address potential issues before they grow.
Preventive maintenance involves following scheduled servicing and performing inspections based on vehicle mileage, engine hours, or time passed to find potential causes for unplanned vehicle downtime.
Here are a few easy ways to keep your fleet healthy manually:
If done regularly, these are the benefits your fleet can gain:
As easy as just checking under the hood once in a while might sound, there's always room for some technological advancement.
Fleet preventive maintenance management can help you identify potential risks before your vehicle breaks down by the side of the road. Partnering with a company like Cartrack that provides fleet management solutions can immediately stop unplanned downtime and greatly benefit your fleet, your business operations and your bottom line.
Cartrack is an industry-leading Software-As-A-Service platform that offers trusted features for vehicle tracking and fleet management solutions for fleets of all sizes. We have developed plenty of AI technology and analytics solutions to service fleets and implemented a strong preventive maintenance program to reduce unplanned vehicle downtime.
Concord Cranes is a successful company that specialises in crane hire solutions. They have over 180 cranes ready for crane hire and also offer services such as lifting projects, professional rigging, and crane transportation.
Like many businesses, one of Concord Crane's biggest challenges was ensuring their construction equipment was well maintained and ready for use upon delivery. Cartrack power take-off sensors and preventive maintenance provided Concord cranes with the tools to accurately monitor their cranes working hours as well as their maintenance needs after being hired.
“Using Cartrack’s advanced fleet management, we have been able to increase our operational efficiency to deliver a better service to our customers, as well as effortlessly establish a maintenance cycle that reduces our costs and increases our fleet longevity.” Gareth Langley, Concord Cranes operations manager
With Cartrack by their side, they could lower maintenance costs by staying on track with their repair needs, minimising premature breakdowns or downtime while on the job.
If you also want to get ahead of unplanned vehicle downtime like Concord Cranes, here are a few Cartrack Singapore features that can make the difference in maintaining vehicle health and reducing vehicle breakdowns and downtime:
Receive automated maintenance reminders for all your vehicles based on vehicle mileage and time intervals. We also provide a full maintenance history record to keep track of your fleet's recurring maintenance needs. This takes the guesswork out of maintenance and ensures you never fall behind on your vehicle's servicing.
Driver behaviour monitoring
Stay on track with vehicle usage practices with our Driver Scorecards and reports that inform you of risky driving behaviours that may affect your vehicle's health and result in downtimes, such as harsh speeding, cornering, or braking. Cartrack also has ADAS, which enhances driver awareness with real-time audible alerts for correcting driving habits. This insight can be used to improve driver behaviour through driver-couching targeting reoccurring trouble spots that are shown in the risk report.
Route planning and optimisation
With Cartrack Delivery, you can avoid unkempt roads that might damage your tyres and vehicle undercarriage. This is our smart task management tool that optimises your fleet routes for routes that consider traffic conditions, provide short travel times, and use minimal fuel. Managers can use delivery to avoid delays and route deviations and provide the most efficient route to get tasks done.
Fuel monitoring technology
Although vehicle downtime caused by a lack of fuel can be quickly remedied, Cartrack tracks fuel consumption in real time to ensure your vehicles don't unexpectedly run out of fuel. Fuel sensors coupled with CANBus-based monitoring give you accurate fuel level information every time.
Experience fewer breakdowns, save money, extend your vehicle lifespan, improve your vehicle’s safety, and reduce the looming stress of unplanned vehicle downtime. Cartrack features are ready and waiting to solve your unplanned downtime woes.
Contact Cartrack Singapore today.
Repairs, lost revenue, and unproductivity are the demons of unplanned vehicle downtime. Discover advanced preventative maintenance and conquer the unexpected.
