Simon Turner, campaign manager at Driving for Better Business, looks at the risks of trying to save costs by cutting back vehicle maintenance.

Simon Turner, campaign manager, Driving for Better Business

We’ve recently seen leaders at Halfords and Startline Motor Finance warning that the cost of high energy prices for business could have a human cost too: on road safety.

Grey fleet vehicles, where the cost of maintenance is borne directly by the employee, could be a real issue.

Cost-of-living rises mean that privately owned cars are becoming older, and industry research by Total Motion showed a stark difference between MOT failure rates on grey fleet vehicles compared to company cars or vans, including:

• Defective tyres: 22% grey fleet, compared to 14.2% of company vehicles.
• Defective brakes: 1.77% grey fleet, 0.38% of company vehicles.
• Defective lights: 1.75% of grey fleet as opposed to 0.47% of company vehicles.
• The survey also found that 13,659 (7%) of all vehicles checked had an incomplete service, maintenance and repair history.

The cost of vehicle maintenance is rising, not least because of labour shortages. Parts are also becoming more expensive and insured vehicle repair costs are on the increase.

So why not economise on maintenance?

Poorly maintained vehicles are a safety hazard. One collision caused by a vehicle defect can cost a company far more than they have saved in maintenance economies across the entire fleet.

Regular inspections, daily defect reporting and good servicing makes vehicles cheaper to run, and prevents unscheduled downtime. It also means faults are likely to be fixed early and not when they become extremely damaging and/or very expensive.

Well-driven and well-maintained vehicles are worth more on resale and also save fleets money at the end of lease.

What can fleets do?

• Educate your procurement team about fleet value. This includes what a working fleet means to the business – and the value of good maintenance and products.
• Find the best total cost of ownership model for your vehicles, including maintenance and compliance costs.
• Top two fleet costs are fuel and insurance premiums. Both are reduced by preventive maintenance schedules and driver coaching. A safer fleet = a cheaper fleet.

Fleets can also sign up for the Driving for Better Business Programme which is free to access and supports those who manage drivers to reduce road risk in their organisation. DfBB is a government-backed National Highways programme to help employers in both the private and public sectors reduce work-related road risk, control the associated costs and improve compliance with current legislation and guidance.

It is free to access and contains useful online tools and resources to help you:

• Evaluate practices
• Strengthen culture
• Enhance performance and demonstrate leadership in the management of work-related road risk

For more details and to sign up to DfBB, click here.