Lease companies are warning fleets they could end up being hit in the pocket if they fail to get their drivers to adhere to service requests.

Almost three-in-four (71%) fleet managers struggle to get their drivers to abide by service intervals, putting warranties at risk and leaving potential problems unchecked (Fleet News, October 8).

“The issue of service schedules not being adhered to is not a new one, but it is growing,” explained a spokesman for Lombard Vehicle Management.

“This is largely as a result of the vehicle manufacturers changing the service intervals, which is in part due to the need to meet new emissions standards, but it is also because vehicle handbooks are becoming increasingly generic, covering a multitude of models and for different countries.

“Drivers are not being made sufficiently aware of the service intervals, which could be made clearer at the point of delivery.”

However, many newer vehicles give drivers an electronic reminder and some lease providers work with fleets to inform them of an impending check.

“While there must be a level of driver responsibility in hitting service intervals we provide support to customers in meeting maintenance deadlines,” explained Jon Mackney, head of consultancy at Arval.

“This ranges across automatic service notification, service booking, provision of a vehicle delivery and collection service, and the availability of courtesy vehicles when required.”

Ian Thomson, director driver services at Lex Autloease, added: “In the current economic climate, an increasing number of customers are not only looking for value in vehicle terms, but as an industry what additional services we can provide.”

Thompson recognises the problems fleet managers are facing, especially where variable service intervals are considered and amongst fleets that regularly swap vehicles between drivers.

“What we try and do, particularly with our larger fleets, is support them by providing ‘proactive service management’,” said Thomson.

“Clearly, we can’t do this for everybody, but for a lot of our customers we will give them an indication when vehicles are due to be serviced. However, this is never an exact science.”

Nevertheless, it’s in the interest of leasing companies to work with fleet managers, as Thompson and others in the industry acknowledge.

“A missed service will create an issue where the warranty is concerned, maintenance costs could increase and ultimately residuals can suffer as it affects vehicle life meaning the customer could end up paying more,” said Thomson.

“The impact is that everyone in the disposal chain, including the leasing company, suffers financially as a result,” added a Lombard spokesman.