The Effect of One Broken Down Vehicle

When you have a large fleet of vehicles, something’s going to break at some point. The more vehicles you have in your fleet, the more problems you’ll have—and that can leave you with costly repairs and decreased fleet productivity.

But negative effects aren’t just felt when multiple cars break down—even a single car breaking down can cause a ripple effect for your business operations.

In this blog, the fleet management software experts at Skypatrol will help you understand how a single breakdown can hurt a fleet business. All it takes is a blown tire or transmission issue to throw your business off schedule and slice your profits.

The Breakdown

Your driver is rolling out on I-95 to pick up some goods for a customer—but out of nowhere, the truck comes to an unexpected halt. This is the least of your problems. Here are a few things that could potentially happen right after the truck breaks down:

  • Your driver calls your customer to tell them they won’t be able to make the pickup at the time they requested. The customer is upset.
  • Your driver calls you, the fleet manager, to request that a mechanic look at the vehicle. A mechanic won’t be available for another few hours.
  • You get in touch with your drivers to see if anyone can take on this spur of the moment job. They’re all booked up for the day.
  • You give the customer a call to report that you’re not going to be able to make the pickup today. The customer is so upset, they call your competitor.
  • Your driver waits for the tow truck to arrive. Instead of making money for your company, he’s sitting in the driver’s seat and surfing Instagram.
  • The tow truck driver brings the vehicle back to the shop. It won’t get looked at until the next morning.
  • The next morning, the mechanic gives you a call and says he needs to order a new part to make the fix. It’s going to be a couple of days before the part comes in. He adds that this breakdown could’ve been avoided with timely vehicle maintenance and inspection.
  • Knowing that your vehicle will be down for a few days, you weigh your options. You can either slow down your operations in order to make up for the lack of a vehicle, or push your drivers to the limit with more (and sloppier) jobs—a lose-lose situation.

This is a classic snowball situation for fleet companies—one that is all too common. A single vehicle breakdown can send customers running to your competitors, throw off the productivity of all of your drivers, inconvenience your management staff, and hurt your profits and ability to do good business. If you’re going to survive in a highly competitive fleet industry, you can’t afford to have unexpected breakdowns. So how do fleet companies avoid this tragic scenario?

Fortunately, fleet breakdowns can be avoided entirely with GPS tracking solutions and fleet management software by Skypatrol. Our Fleet Command system allows you to keep track of vehicle maintenance, organize repair logs, and create custom reminders for when vehicles need inspections. Use our advanced GPS systems to lower your insurance premiums and keep tabs on all of your vehicles, and organize and dictate the actions of your fleet through our innovative, Verizon-powered interface. Don’t wait—schedule a demo of Fleet Command today.