Nlt, 1.3 billion spent on maintenance in 2024

According to estimates by Aniasa, long-term renters spent EUR 1.3 billion on approximately 3 million maintenance operations on fleet vehicles in 2024. Calculator in hand and still estimating, each vehicle was subject to around 2.2 interventions per year at an average unit cost of 433 euro.

As rental companies do not own the garages, they have to decide who to have handle maintenance work. They can use repair centres selected according to quantitative and qualitative criteria, large multi-service centres with several locations in regional territories, large independent networks and official networks of car manufacturers.

The choices reflect different strategies. By relying on large networks, the hirer seeks the guarantee of nationwide service at competitive conditions, a single point of contact, centralised billing, compliance with timetables and Sla shared upstream. Choosing the official network ensures a premium service, but so do the costs. Accurate monitoring of vehicle downtime is a must for managing a fleet, regardless of its size. A consistent downtime should be, as highlighted by Simone Costantini, ceo of Fleet Support, around 9 to 10 days on average when the measurement does not include timely interventions, and around 3.5 days on average if both quick and longer repairs are included.

However, in the absence of a dedicated strategy, a company may experience an average downtime of 15-18 days when considering only the longest interventions, which drops to 7.5-8 days when including short-term interventions (less than 8 hours of work). If we then consider other external factors, such as bodywork or insurance quantification activities, these can increase the downtime by up to 50%, reaching an average of 27 days when only the most complex interventions are taken into account.

There are several ways to limit downtime, including the choice of appropriate networks that can also manage warranties, the definition of clear and controllable Sla, centralised spare parts management and adequate authority times. Then there are also special services, such as those of the mobile workshop, for example Officlick by Ecoprogram Flotte, through which routine maintenance, smart repair and tyre change operations can be carried out directly at the client company's yard while the driver is in the office working. With this service there is both a reduction in vehicle downtime and a reduction in the driver's delivery and pick-up times. It is mostly used in cases where technical downtime results in lost revenue (operational or short-term fleets), but would be an excellent premium service for cars of upper-middle management.