During calendar-year 2020, fleet maintenance expenses declined year-over-year compared to CY-2019, primarily driven by the COVID lockdowns and customer restrictions on allowing visitors on company premises. In addition, vehicles were under-utilized resulting in unintended additional problems such as flat tires, dead batteries, and rusting brakes.
Fleet car and truck maintenance costs have been trending upward during the first half of the 2021-calendar year as total fleet miles driven have increased in response to a recovering economy compared to 2020-CY. Prior to this, work-from-home mandates and the idling of non-essential fleets exerted downward pressure on fleet maintenance costs as fewer business miles, in the aggregate, were driven.
Truck fleet drivers have a significant impact on a fleet’s maintenance costs. Ensure drivers are involved in truck maintenance and spell out fleet policies.
Average repair cost per unit increased in 2019, primarily due to higher labor rates. Also, PM costs were up as more units require more expensive synthetic oil. Tire price per unit, on average, increased 3% in the past 12 months.
The ongoing trend of increased costs per service will continue as more and more vehicles requiring conventional oil are taken out of service and replaced with models that require synthetics.
The vehicle maintenance and repair industries are experiencing a skilled labor shortage as technicians in the Baby Boomer demographic retire in greater numbers than those replacing them. The skilled labor shortage requires shops to pay more for skilled technicians, which translates into higher shop labor rates.
Higher labor costs will continue to increase the maintenance spend for routine repairs in 2020, especially at service facilities located in high-cost-of-living metro areas.
Higher fuel prices and maintenance costs, along with upward pressure on maintenance labor rates are a few of the factors increasing fleet operating costs.
Fleets are being impacted by a variety of inflationary pressures ranging from higher acquisition prices due to the proliferation of onboard safety equipment, to increased material costs pushing up pricing on parts, upfits, and replacement tires.
The robust economy is creating record numbers of new jobs and a subsequent labor shortage that is being exacerbated by the large wave of Baby Boomer retirements, but some see uncertainty of future market conditions.
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