When looking to improve your fleet operation’s bottom line, don’t overlook the importance of warranty claims. Warranty recovery can be one of the quickest ways to add money to your operation.
Operations can leave thousands of dollars on the table in unclaimed warranties each year. Use the following tips to ensure your operation is maximizing its warranty recovery.
A common reason for operations to fall behind in their warranty recovery program is due to time constraints. While creating and maintaining a program can take an initial time investment, it can be worth it. As a rule of thumb, 5 minutes of paperwork generally yields $110 of warranty. So, 45 hours of work could result in $60,000 in recovery. If the labor for 45 hours cost the operation $2,800, the investment would pay out 20:1. This return on investment could make warranty recovery one of the most profitable operations in the shop.
When claiming warranties, don’t overlook the small parts. While most operations will get warranties on engines, transmissions, rear ends and other high-priced parts, small parts can still generate a lot of money in warranty recovery. It’s estimated tens of thousands of dollars are wasted due to the lack of attention to small parts warranty claims.
To correct this, operations should use fleet management software to track parts and their warranty information. If warranty information is entered for each part, the technician will be able to check in the software system if each part he or she is replacing is under warranty. If it is, the technician should tag the part with the vehicle number, the odometer reading and the date of the replacement. The software solution can then generate a list of all warranty parts replaced, which will provide the necessary information for filing claims.
When replacing failed parts, it’s important to not dispose of them immediately. To redeem the warranty, some manufacturers require inspection of the part or component before approving the claim. A general rule is to keep all failed parts in a designated place (a box or bin) for 45 to 60 days before disposing of them.
Even when parts are covered under warranty, it still results in downtime for vehicles to replace the failed components. To minimize the repair time – and to prevent recurring issues – the operation needs to find the cause of the failure and how it could have been caught earlier. The best way to do this is to perform systematic analysis of all failed parts.
Performing failure analysis will help identify more than just errors with the part. It will also provide insight on areas where the operation can improve. Some areas can include:
When vehicles go into shops for repairs, it can be tempting for operations to fix the issue and get the vehicle back on the road as soon as possible. Technicians can quickly change out parts and minimize downtime. However, doing it this way doesn’t allow time to figure out why the part failed.
Determining the root cause of a part failure can take longer initially, but this can help the operation both determine if the part was under warranty, and if the failure is due to a larger issue. This allows the problem to be detected and fixed and can prevent the vehicle from returning to the shop sooner.
When performing a failure analysis, the result can show that the problem isn’t with the part itself, but rather with the driver or the operating environment. Driver abuse, overloads and rough operating conditions are only a few of the outside influences that can cause component failure sooner than expected.
The following tips can help prolong components lifespans, and help recoup warranty claims:
RTA Fleet Management Software is committed to helping your fleet operation maximize its warranty recoveries. Contact us today to find out how RTA can help your operation get more money back on claims.