We here at Ideal Automotive don’t envy you if you’re a fleet manager. We respect you. Your job is tough – super tough. You have to keep a fleet of vehicles making money, and you cannot afford to have expenses bleed your profits dry. Many fleet managers cringe at the thought of preventative maintenance because it seems, on the surface, to be an unnecessary expense. It isn’t, and here is how this crucial service will actually save you money and boost your profits.
Breakdowns Cost Money
Maintained fleet vehicles have significantly fewer chances of breaking down than vehicles that are not maintained. If you think maintenance takes a chunk out of your budget’s bottom line, let’s talk for a moment about how much breakdowns will affect it. Imagine you have just one fleet vehicle break down. The problem is with the transmission. On average, transmission repair costs can start as high as $3,000 should the transmission require rebuilding. If it needs to be replaced, you’re looking at $4,000 to $8,000.
Even if the repairs aren’t that high, a vehicle in the repair shop is a vehicle off the beat. When your fleet vehicles are not on the road they are not making money. Depending on the extent of the repairs, including our example of a transmission repair, the fleet vehicle could remain out of circulation for a few days to a couple of weeks. So, breakdowns not only cost you money to repair the vehicle they also cost you lost profits because the vehicle cannot be driven until it is fixed and ready to roll once again.
Accidents Cost Money
Another way fleet maintenance saves you money is safety. Properly maintained vehicles are safer on the road, which not only avoids accidents but, depending on your insurance carrier, can also save you dough on insurance premiums. Let’s use another example. You run a fleet of transportation vehicles and your driver gets into an accident with a passenger in the car. The cause of the accident is faulty brakes. People are injured… you know where we’re going with this, don’t you? Liability.
Your insurance company is not going to be very happy with you if the accident was caused by your negligence, especially if those involved in the accident decide to take it to court. As we said above, maintained vehicles are safe vehicles, which helps prevent your drivers from getting into automobile accidents. This saves you money whether you transport people or goods, because lost deliveries can also cost you money in angry customers demanding refunds of their shipping fees.
Ideal Automotive in Blaine, MN, can help with your fleet vehicle maintenance. Call us today to schedule an appointment.
