Holman has cut its already industry-leading average downtime by a further 1.5 days to just 2.24 days for fleet customer repairs.
The all-time low was set in August 2024 and compares to an average vehicle offroad time 12 months ago of 3.79 days for all core fleet customers – which Holman believes was already the best in the industry.
That figure has now been slashed further due to a major enhancement programme for its downtime teams and processes structures, as well as an investment in specialist expertise.
As a result, Holman calculates it has increased the amount of time its customers’ vehicles are available and on the road by more than 240,000 hours a year.
A tiered approach to downtime means that now, when an asset is identified as having a ‘vehicle off-road’ (VOR) issue, the team is immediately on the clock to manage the vendor and monitor any repair work.
“Where Holman really specialises is in the problem cases,” said Matt Hill, Holman’s fleet operations manager. “Our tiered approach means that more straightforward repairs are immediately pushed through by the Downtime Controllers; as soon as they see that there are more complex or technical issues that need managing, the job is escalated to the technical members of the Downtime Control Team.”
The Downtime Control Team are experts in vehicle repairs, who take control when a problem has been flagged. They find alternative solutions which will get the vehicle back on the road quicker, such as investigating alternative parts, moving jobs between workshops in its 2,000-strong vendor network, or even looking at different ways of effecting the repair.
Ali Hammond, leader of the Downtime Control Team, explained: “Because our team members have been technicians or have industry knowledge themselves, they know the issues workshops encounter. We’ve tasked the team with being problem solvers, finding innovative ways to keep the repair process moving and getting vehicles back on the road as quickly as possible.”
Customers are given the option of proceeding with the quicker repair or opt for a potentially cheaper solution that may take longer to conclude.
“The true cost of VOR is more than the repair bill and can add up to many thousands of pounds a day in some cases: the on-cost of rental vehicles or sourcing alternative transport, the disruption to their operation and work, and the cost of an employee not being able to work despite being paid are all factors. In most cases, getting the vehicle back on the road as quickly as possible is the best option.,” Hammond continued.
Holman’s transparent, regular reporting of all costs to its customers allows them to make these decisions based on a complete understanding of the impact the decision will make. As the 1.5-day reduction in VOR has shown, almost all customers have recognised that a quicker repair is a better return on investment than waiting and incurring all the other costs.
“We have always believed we are an industry leader in minimising downtime,” said Hill. “But in the past year, we’ve taken this skillset to a whole new level, as these incredible results demonstrate. And we’ve done this while taking on a number of major fleet contracts. The reduction in downtime shows that to really improve, you need to employ experts who understand their job in incredible detail.
“The challenge now is to improve again. At just over two days, it might not be possible to bring the average downtime down again, but instead our goal will be to provide even better service and being proactive in finding solutions before the issues arise.”
