Fleet downtime back to pre-pandemic levels
New research has found that vehicle fleet downtime in the first quarter of the year has fallen to its lowest levels since before the pandemic.
Analysis of data from the epyx 1link Service Network, which processes nearly 20,000 job sheets a day, found that fleet vehicle downtimes were 1.46 days in January, 1.47 in February and 1.53 in March.
These are the three lowest monthly numbers recorded since January 2020 (1.54 days), and significantly lower than their peak in May 2023 (1.83 days).
Tim Meadows, CCO at epyx, said: “Downtime has been a major problem for fleets since the pandemic, something caused by a number of factors. These include operating generally older vehicles, difficulties obtaining parts, a shortage of skilled technicians and higher demands on workshop capacity – all of which have meant that cars and vans have been spending longer off the road.
“We’ve been working closely with vehicle operators to mitigate its effects but, as our data shows, progress in resolving all of these problems have been both slow and erratic over the last few years. However, quarter one figures suggest there may be a marked improvement underway, which would be very good news.”
He added: “It’s much too early to say these three months of figures mean issues with downtime have effectively been sorted. We could well see further volatility in future data. There are many variables in play that could have a negative effect.”
