VIN Basics Blog

Fleet managers recognize that vehicle downtime, whether scheduled or unplanned, is one of the most persistent challenges to manage. This can directly affect productivity, delivery schedules, and profitability. On average, a single day of downtime in 2015 would cost a fleet between $448 and $760 per vehicle. Today, a company could see upwards of $1036 per day, per vehicle. This number could even be higher after factoring in the cost of parts and labor. While downtime is inevitable, with the right strategy in place, fleets can minimize their financial impact and even use it to strengthen their day-to-day operations.

Inflation has been outpacing wages for many years, which has created significant hardship for workers and forced them to extend the life of key necessities such as their personal vehicles. Kelley Blue Book (KBB) has found that the average vehicle life has now been extended to 12 and a half years, in an effort to avoid adding a new car payment to already strained budgets. Timely, cost-effective, and quality vehicle maintenance is necessary to attain this ambitious lifespan, and customers typically have many local options for servicing and repairs. The parts and services industry has become an enormous market ($137 billion in 2022 from dealerships alone) with intense competition, so how can these businesses generate the customer loyalty and positive experiences needed to thrive with repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations? 

As a dealership vendor, it should come as no surprise that dealerships see the largest profit margins from their fixed operations department. In fact, you’ve probably had your hand in the creation of content around this topic on some level, whether it be a comprehensive study or articles on your blog.