In-house fleet maintenance refers to a company’s decision to handle 90% or more of their vehicle maintenance and repairs internally. Outsourced fleet maintenance involves hiring a third-party provider to manage these tasks. Companies with longer trade cycles (or larger fleets) tend to prefer in-house fleet maintenance, while companies with multiple OEM’s, a multi-location footprint, or those leasing equipment prefer outsourcing.
There are benefits and challenges to fleets doing their own maintenance. There are, however, three main benefits to keeping maintenance in-house.
• Control: In-house maintenance gives the fleet complete control over the maintenance process (including scheduling), quality of work and cost.
• Familiarity: The in-house maintenance team knows the company’s equipment and maintenance history, which can help then identify issues more quickly and accurately.
• Cost-effective: In some cases, in-house maintenance can be more cost-effective than outsourcing, especially if the company has a large fleet of vehicles
There are also three main challenges to keeping maintenance in-house.
• Labor cost: Hiring and retaining skilled technicians can be expensive and can require significant investment in both tools and equipment.
