Commercial fleets are being urged to plan for price pressure on labour rates and the price of parts to increase service, maintenance and repair costs (SMR).
For van fleets that lease their vehicles with maintenance included, SMR is priced into the monthly cost of the lease.
Leasing companies will look at macroeconomic factors, historic prices of parts and labour rates, survey current labour rates and look at elements like the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation to help predict future SMR costs.
Fleets are also being forced to extend lease lengths because of the squeeze on the supply of new cars and vans. Longer leases, inevitably, mean extra MOTs, servicing and tyres, as well as increased wear and tear.
Paul Hollick, the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) chair, said: “Based on the price increases with labour rates I think we could quite easily see SMR cost increases of between 10% and 20%.
“The majority of that maintained cost will be on tyres, in particular, due to the increased cost of rubber.
"Fleets need to expect there to be a knock-on effect coming and plan accordingly.”
I247 Group, the outsourced fleet services company, recently said its customers are reporting “double-digit increases” on tyres.
This is due to price rises across materials, logistics, labour and fuel.
These increases are coupled with a change in the fleet mix with larger rim sizes and an increasing number of SUVs and electric vehicles (EVs).
While EVs feature fewer serviceable items, tyre wear can be increased due to the heavier weight of the vehicles and a high torque curve delivery that offers quick progress from a standing start.
Hollick said that while maintenance costs are expected to go up, they’re still “small beer” compared with things like the cost of diesel.
Fleets which are extending contracts while waiting for new vehicles to be delivered should look at whether SMR increases will be factored into any extensions, he added.
