‘Perfect storm’ of woes puts fleet bosses on their mettle

Lengthening delivery times caused by the semiconductor and other component supply issues dominated discussions at the Fleet News roundtable sponsored by Holman, held at Huntingdon racecourse in May.

With a knock-on impact on parts shortages resulting in longer maintenance downtime, shrinking discounts and a lack of rental vehicles, fleets described the situation as “a perfect storm”, pointing to the added woes of rising fuel and energy prices.

Fleet News: How are vehicle delays affecting your business?

Lorna McAtear, National Grid: Discounts are disappearing, prices keep increasing, supply delays mean constant requotes and vehicles are being pulled. When we are requoting, is that down to the manufacturer or the leasing company, because it’s the driver receiving the message to say their car has been cancelled. What was a five-minute automated process (quotes/orders) is now manual, taking much longer.

Debbie Floyde, Bauer Media: It’s a painful situation at the moment, a perfect storm with vehicle supply issues and funding complexities, including salary sacrifice which we are looking into. We have so many more touchpoints with the driver, keeping them informed about all the changes.

John Hole, PHS: Having a single source supply strategy has helped us to negotiate price guarantees on our orders, but we are still seeing cancellations. There is also a knock-on in terms of cost of repairs as vehicles get older, which is made worse by the delays on parts supply.