Fleet downtime has become a critical business resilience issue for UK companies as vehicle offroad time (VOR) surges.

A new report from AA Business Services reveals that, on average, businesses experienced six-and-a-half days of VOR disruption in the past year. With downtime costing an average of £1,172 per day for every van out of action, this places a major burden on company budgets.

What’s more, almost half of fleets face financial penalties when vehicles are unavailable for a week or more, according to the AA’s new Keeping Business Moving: Minimising Downtime, Optimising Performance study.

The company’s latest ‘Yellow Paper’ highlights that downtime is being incurred as a result of ageing fleets, poorly maintained roads and technician shortages.a

The AA also warns that downtime isn’t just a maintenance issue – it’s a bottom-line challenge that affects profitability, staff wellbeing and customer goodwill significantly.

Edmund King, AA president, said: “Vehicle downtime has always been a challenge for businesses, but the scale and complexity of today’s operating environment means it’s fast becoming a critical business resilience issue.

“Each day a vehicle is off the road impacts productivity, customer commitments, and ultimately businesses’ profitability. But positively, businesses now have far more insight and data available  to help them tackle it. Understanding VOR, and why it occurs, is the key to prevention.”

The report also flags the important role predictive maintenance and connected vehicle technology now play in VOR prevention and management.

“Fleet resilience is a key competitive advantage in the current environment,” said James Starling, director, AA Business Services. “That’s why the most proactive and robust fleets are tackling issues before they occur. The fleets that thrive over the next ten years will be those with a VOR plan to improve operational resilience across the board.”

To download the AA’s new ‘Yellow Paper’, click here.