Unexpected Downtime: Understanding the Costs and Impact

Published on December 16, 2021

As fleet or risk managers, we all know how time-consuming and costly unexpected downtime can be. In this article, we’ll walk you through how unexpected downtime negatively impacts repair cycle-time and your bottom line. Then, you will discover what smart fleets are doing to reduce their unexpected downtime while simultaneously driving down costs, improving safety, raising quality, and supporting local, diverse repair shops.

With expected downtime, there is a schedule and a plan to work around the preventative maintenance repair. In addition, as you can see in the above visual, there are less people involved in comparison to unexpected downtime. Moreover, you will have likely discussed the maintenance work order with your in-house mechanic prior to repairs commencing. Preventative maintenance (PM) also does not require input from multiple internal departments like Risk and Safety and other third-party vendors like appraisers, fleet management companies, and TPAs (Third Party Administrators). However, with unexpected downtime, there is no plan; there is no schedule. There is simply no way to schedule a crash. Here, we examine in detail what makes unexpected downtime so wasteful in time and cost.

Incident Reporting

One item that is required for unexpected downtime but is not necessary for preventative maintenance (PM) is filing an internal incident report. Paper incident reports are the most traditional and common way operators are recording crashes. But, manually writing reports can easily become a hassle. Not only do departments lose and erroneously misfile handwritten reports, but paper reports often omit important details including the status of the load a vehicle may have been carrying at the time of the incident; also the reports are often illegible. In addition, paper reports can take several weeks to complete and even longer to get into the hands of the Fleet Foreman or Safety Manager.

If an incident report is not on file, there is no way to ensure the damages will be covered by the Risk Department or designated fund; not to mention, repairs on the crashed vehicle most often cannot begin until the report is received and approved!

Independent Appraisers and Third Party Administrators (TPA): High Costs — Low to No Data Analytics

As a fleet manager, the goal is to increase uptime and keep your fleet on the road. Even Smart Fleets who utilize software like ‘Uptime by SHzoom’ to get incident reports in minutes instead of weeks are oftentimes left at the mercy of third-party contractors when it comes to speeding up the repair process and getting their fleet back on the road.

For example, an operator utilizing Uptime by SHzoom may complete the incident report in real-time from the crash scene fully integrated with accident photos and injury status; their Supervisor, instead of chasing down information, may review and approve it immediately using Uptime, however, if the expensive appraiser and/or TPA ($150 to $1,500 per incident) fails to call, email, or snail-mail you the necessary data, your fleet remains down despite your best efforts to get the incident report in a SMART fashion! This directly impacts your productivity, creates bottlenecks in your process, and often leaves your operators and the departments you support feeling unhappy.

This is another reason why Smart Fleets are using Uptime by SHzoom to connect internal and external players on the same platform allowing for increased speed, visibility, and accountability. Accident-related costs can average up to $70,000 for a single accident, according to an article published about SHzoom during the National Automotive Fleet Association (NAFA) Conference.

As SHzoom’s proprietary platform, Uptime, continues to reinvent the way the world thinks of auto accidents, SHzoom is offering exclusive invitations to qualifying organizations now for a spot in their 2022 Uptime EAP (Early Adopters Program) where Smart Fleets gain the access they deserve! If you are an innovative, forward-thinking organization with the traditionally siloed fleet, risk, and safety departments, you are invited to pre-qualify and schedule a demo today!

Citations:

“SHZOOM RECORDS ANOTHER LANDMARK ACHIEVEMENT WITH THE LAUNCH OF SHZOOM FLEET ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.” ABNewswire, 15 Apr. 2019, www.abnewswire.com/pressreleases/shzoom-records-another-landmark-achievement-with-the-launch-of-shzoom-fleet-accident-management-system_355527.html.

Learn More about Uptime Early Adopters Program:
https://shzoom.com/tryuptime/