Set It and Forget It? That’s How Fleets Get Burned

This article is based on a recent episode of The Fleet Success Show podcast. Watch the full episode here: 

Outsourcing Is Fine, But Abdicating Control Isn’t

There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing your fleet’s maintenance and repair (M&R). In fact, with technician shortages and shrinking bandwidth, it’s often a necessity. But treating your third-party vendor like an all-inclusive vacation package is how costs balloon and service quality nosedives.

In this episode of The Fleet Success Show, Marc Canton, Steve Saltzgiver, and Scott Rood sound the alarm: FMCs are not your fleet manager. Stop acting like they are.

“They Wouldn’t Replace It Early… Would They?”

Spoiler: they would. And they do. Fleet Management Companies (FMCs) and vendors operate on profit margins. When they recommend new tires, brakes, or batteries prematurely, it’s not necessarily fraud—it’s incentive alignment. Their job is to optimize their bottom line, not yours.

The guys tell stories of audits that revealed:

• Duplicate battery charges (in the same year!)
  
  
• Two sets of tires billed annually per vehicle
  
  
• Brakes replaced that… weren’t actually replaced
  
  
• Thousands spent on warranty work that should’ve been free
  
  

It’s death by 1,000 cuts. But only if no one’s watching.

Your Job Isn’t to Approve Invoices, It’s to Protect the Fleet

Steve, Marc, and Scott make it clear: if you don’t have dedicated personnel (or consultants) overseeing this stuff, you’re hemorrhaging money. That means:

• Having an internal FMIS (never rely on vendor software!)
  
  
• Auditing all repair work, big AND small
  
  
• Writing performance-based SLAs with clear incentives and penalties
  
  
• Using labor/time verification tools like Mitchell OnDemand or ALLDATA
  
  

This isn’t micromanagement. It’s management, period.

“But It Was Only a $50 Belt…”

Sure. Until you replace it 1,000 times. Every part, no matter how small, can snowball into six figures if you’re not vigilant. That’s why fleet leadership requires a hybrid skillset: data literacy, mechanical intuition, and contractual awareness.

As Scott put it: “You gotta know what you're looking at. And you gotta be willing to look.”

What About SLAs?

Most fleets either don’t have service level agreements (SLAs), or they have flimsy ones. A good SLA should:

• Define turnaround time, like 80% of repairs in 48 hours
  
  
• Incentivize performance (carrot) and penalize underperformance (stick)
  
  
• Be backed by auditable metrics
  
  
• Be tied to contracts and approval processes
  
  

If your vendor isn’t signing off on those? They’re just freelancing with your fleet.

TL;DR

• Outsource M&R, not fleet responsibility
  
• Always use your own fleet maintenance management system
  
• Write real SLAs with KPIs and consequences
  
• Audit EVERYTHING, even low-cost repairs
• Educate yourself and your team to ask questions
  
• If you’re not checking, you’re being overcharged

This episode is your wake-up call. Put eyes back on your operation, and your invoices.