Fleet Assist's customer base of contract hire and leasing companies collectively operate 700,000 vehicles, and it has worked with these companies to design two version of the downtime management tool.
Downtime Management identifies critical cases by the type of work required or how the vehicle arrived at a garage, such as by recovery truck. The system manages these cases from start to finish, ensuring on-time parts delivery and repair scheduling, with updates delivered continuously to the customer.
Downtime Management Lite, meanwhile, monitors less complex service, management or repair (SMR) tasks that are due to be completed in one day. The system alerts Fleet Assist if the work will overrun, so that the leasing company can be informed.
"It is essential when vehicles are off the road that they are returned to the fleet as soon as possible to ensure downtime costs are minimised," says Vincent St Claire (pictured), Fleet Assist's commercial director.
"Clear communication between garages undertaking SMR work, leasing companies and their customers is critical," he adds.
"Fleet Assist's newly developed Downtime Management Tool enables our leasing company clients to be kept fully informed on the progress of SMR work, enabling them in turn to keep their customers up to date as to when vehicles will be back on the road."