Study Shows Fleet Operating Costs Stay Flat During Pandemic Chevin Fleet The ef forts o f many countr ies to “ f lat ten the curve” and curb the r i se o f COVID-19 in fect ions dur ing the f i rs t ha l f o f 2020 have s lowed the g lobal f leet industry . A l though commercia l vehic les that carry essent ia l goods have been a l lowed to t rave l in countr ies that implemented nat ionwide lockdowns , bott lenecks in g lobal log ist ics and transport have s lowed down a i r and land f re ight in var ious regions . T ruck t ra f f ic in Europe , for example t ruck t ra f f ic fe l l by 37 percent in I ta ly , 46 percent in France and 50 percent in Spain . By Apr i l , the tota l d is tance traveled by t ransport t rucks in Europe was 24 percent lower than the normal rate . Yet , research shows that the operat ing costs o f f leets have f lat tened rather than decl ined in a l l o f 2020. According to the 28th Annual Operat ing Cost Survey by Automot ive F leet (which analysed the operat ing costs o f 961 ,702 serv ice vehic les ) , 60 percent of operat ing expenses for f leets go to fue l ; and with the decreased mi les t rave led in the year , fue l consumption a lso went down. Fewer t r ips a lso indicated lesser expense for t i re replacements . Costs for Maintenance Remained Stable What kept the tota l expenditures for f leets re lat ive ly s table were maintenance costs . Even though fewer vehic les were t rave l ing , and those that d id get deployed t rave led fewer mi les in tota l for the year , a l l uni ts s t i l l requi red some form of maintenance . Vehic les le f t unused for a long t ime can run across issues l ike corros ion and dra ined batter ies . To ensure that f leets are roadworthy and ready to go on the road every t ime the local governments eased t rave l rest r ict ions , f leet managers had to al locate resources towards the i r maintenance . Th is a lso inc luded refuel ing , a l though the f leet ’ s requi rements are cons iderably less than when the vehic les were being deployed . Rout ine maintenance for parked vehic les inc lude lett ing the engine run for a few minutes each week and dr iv ing short d is tances to check i f the electr ica l and mechanica l components (e .g . , a i r condit ioning , headl ights , sh i f t gears , brakes) are a l l fu l ly operat ional . The changes in f leet act iv i t ies dur ing the pandemic h ighl ighted the importance of expert f leet management . F ixed protocols are usefu l when running mass ive operat ions that employ hundreds of people and span wide geographic ter r i tor ies , but the cr i s i s has a lso revealed the need for f lex ib i l i ty . F leets must be agi le to quick ly acc l imate to the current c l imate . F ixed operat ions wi l l inev i tably suf fer losses , so f leet managers must d iscover new and agi le revenue st reams (e .g . , expand or contract vehic le lease contracts ) to susta in the i r organisat ion . F leet management tools and programs can help managers make accurate predict ions and support cruc ia l bus iness dec is ions with hard data . Fleet Management’s Role in Cost Reduction https : / /www.automotive- f leet .com/10128968/pandemics-disrupt ion-keeps-2020- f leet-operat ing-costs- f lat https : / /www.oecd.org/coronavi rus/pol icy- responses/ food-supply-chains-and-covid- 19- impacts- and-pol icy- lessons-71b57aea/ https : / /www.businesscar .co .uk/news/2021 / jan-18- 24/covid- 19-pandemic- led-to-higher- f leet- lease- terminat ion-costs , -europcar- f inds https : / /www.chevinf leet .com/products/ f leetwave/ Sources :