The Hidden Costs of Vehicle Downtime And How to Avoid Them

Many unexpected events can cause vehicles in your fleet to go out of service. From breakdowns to compliance violations, part malfunctions or weather events, any time your trucks are sitting idle, your fleet is losing money. In fact, it’s estimated that downtime costs a fleet an average of $448 to $760 a day per vehicle.

The most obvious cost associated with downtime is that your fleet is transporting fewer loads and generating less revenue. However, there are other business impacts that come with unexpected downtime, making it even more important to find ways to mitigate them.

Some of the hidden costs of vehicle downtime that could be impacting your fleet include:

Unmet Customer Expectations

When drivers are late to a delivery time, customers are understandably unhappy. No one likes to wait around for a late delivery, and subsequent deliveries might have to be pushed back. Some types of cargo can be ruined if delivered too late. But in today’s increasingly complex supply chain, it can also cause problems if your truck arrives too early, since customers are moving and arranging numerous trucks in complicated scheduling structures. 

Unexpected downtime can directly hamper your drivers’ ability to meet customer timelines, causing customer dissatisfaction and impacting your company's reputation. This can put your working relationship in jeopardy and reduce repeat business from that company. 

Additionally, today’s customers are more dependent on referrals from their peers than ever before, and the trucking industry is no exception. A recent study showed that 88% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know above all other forms of marketing messages. Keeping your current customers happy lays the groundwork for new customers in the future.

Negative Driver Experience

While some amount of unexpected downtime does not come as a surprise to seasoned drivers, ongoing systematic problems can erode your drivers’ confidence in their vehicles and your company as a whole. Broken-down trucks can also impact the number of hours a driver can complete, impacting their earning capacity. 

Additionally, poorly maintained vehicles increase the likelihood of equipment malfunction, setting the stage for dangerous accidents. Whether a part malfunctions during loading or unloading, or on the road, drivers don’t want to work for companies that don’t prioritize their safety. Creating a safer work environment can positively impact your fleet’s driver retention efforts.

Finally, unexpected downtime can affect your drivers’ ability to enjoy a healthy work/life balance. Trusting that their schedules and routes will happen as assigned allows drivers to make plans in their personal lives and set expectations with family and friends for their time off the road. While most drivers are willing to “pitch in” occasionally during unexpected incidents, excessive scrambling and rerouting to rescue disabled trucks can negatively impact team morale and cause drivers to look for work elsewhere.

Increased Safety and Compliance Risks

Unexpected drive time can place your employees and trucks in dangerous situations. On the road, equipment malfunction can cause serious accidents, possibly injuring your drivers and other vehicles on the road. This can result not only in a tragic loss of life but also in expensive equipment damage and potential lawsuits. Accidents can also impact your fleet’s CSA score and increase your likelihood of negative interventions from the FMCSA. 

Additionally, unexpected drive time can make it harder for your drivers to stay on top of their HOS status and other compliance requirements. Drivers sometimes must be called in to help complete a job for a disabled vehicle or reroute from their planned route to pick up a load. Compliance violations can result in costly fines or even require your driver to go out of service for a certain amount of time. All this negatively impacts your profit margins.

Workload Ripple Effect

Since a fleet’s workflow is so interconnected, when one component goes down, all other teams can be impacted. For example, the back office must jump into action to activate a plan to complete the job for a disabled truck. This might include an excessive amount of calls or texts to find a truck nearby or even call in another driver to go rescue the cargo. The back office must then review schedules for the upcoming shifts to ensure the emergency response won’t cause any driver to go into HOS violation in the coming days.

Similarly, the maintenance team might have to drop what they’re doing to address the more urgent emergency repairs, forcing managers to rework schedules and push back planned preventative maintenance. This can, in turn, put other vehicles at risk for unplanned downtime since they aren’t receiving their regularly scheduled service on time. Additionally, in times when parts can be hard to come by and slow to arrive, the maintenance team might be stuck waiting for needed components to arrive before they can get back to their regularly planned schedule.

Finally, drivers may have to change their plans and schedules to respond to emergency shifts or react to a rescheduled planned maintenance servicing for their trailer. In the fleet’s ecosystem, no one works in a silo. Trouble on the road can cause problems in almost every other department.

How Technology Mitigates the Impact of Unexpected Downtime

Telematics and fleet management software can give your fleet a set of tools that reduce the negative impacts of unexpected downtime, while also reducing the odds of experiencing that downtime itself. An integrated system of virtual sensors, smart communication tools, and streamlined data reporting offers more insights to make smarter, faster decisions. 

For example:

• HOS Management: Automated tools track driver HOS in real-time, alerting the driver to when he or she is getting close to compliance thresholds. (Learn more about PS HOS)
• More Powerful, Easier Inspections: Integrated inspection reports with photo capabilities help your drivers easily identify vehicle defects and document them in your maintenance system. Drivers can share DVIRs directly with your maintenance team prior to scheduling work to shorten maintenance cycles. (Learn more about PS DVIR)
• Optimized Workflow: Workflow tools can automate everything for your fleet to ensure loads are completed accurately and on-time, coordinating all the moving parts. (Learn more about PS Workflow)
• More Efficient Communication with Drivers: Prioritized messaging features reduce message fatigue for drivers, while still allowing you to communicate on the most urgent updates. (Learn more about PS Message)

Additionally, innovative developers within the industry are creating cutting-edge apps that fleets can integrate into their fleet management system based on specific needs or goals. For example, Platform Science maintains an extensive partner add-on library – the Virtual Vehicle Marketplace – from which fleets can choose customized tools to supercharge certain areas of their operations. Some available add-on apps include:

• Proactive and Real-time Health Reports: The ConMet Driver App offers enhanced pre-trip inspection and real-time alerts during the trip. Data is shared with the fleet maintenance team, and everyone can view the same dashboard, which supports better business decisions. During the trip, the app’s on-the-road view provides real-time, in-cab asset health alerts when needed so the driver can focus on the road.
• Predictive Maintenance and Remote Diagnostics: Drivers and managers no longer need to wait until a truck is in the maintenance shop to understand what’s happening under the hood. Instead, real-time alerts and recommended responses are delivered to the driver’s cab and to any other appropriate team members. Noregon’s TripVision app provides the real-time insights and predictive algorithms needed to prevent serious malfunctions and safety-related issues.
• Navigation Optimized for Trucking: A smartphone’s default navigation app isn't equipped to handle the professional needs of truckers. The Trimble CoPilot app offers precise, easy-to-follow directions and in-cab alerts for speeding, low bridges, restricted roads, and weight limits to maintain safety and compliance. Additionally, it allows you to quickly send your customers updated ETAs when traffic, weather, unfavorable road conditions, or unexpected downtime slow your drivers down.

Unexpected downtime is a real problem for fleets, causing complications much more complex than one might expect. Being prepared with the right tools to help mitigate downtime when it occurs can help fleets reduce the negative effects to drivers – and to the bottom line – as much as possible. 

‍Check out Platform Science’s full suite of tools for fleets now, or contact us to discuss how we can help you plan the future of your fleet.