Mobile & Roadside Repair for Fleets - What are the benefits?
Many fleets utilise mobile and roadside repair services alongside their traditional bodyshop networks, allowing some day-to-day repairs to be conducted remotely, or even on-the-go, rather than taking the vehicle out of action.
Here we discuss the key differences between mobile and roadside repairs, the types of repairs they cover, and the benefits they can bring for fleets and their drivers.
Mobile vs Roadside Repair - what’s the difference?
While both are conducted outside of a traditional garage or bodyshop setting, there are some key differences between mobile and roadside repair, and the types of damage they cover:
Mobile repairs for fleets
Fleets utilise mobile repairers to fix non-critical vehicle damage, such as cosmetic scrapes, cracks, and dents, without deploying the vehicle to a bodyshop.
A mobile technician will conduct the repairs at a location convenient for the fleet or their driver, such as at a depot, or at the driver’s home address.
Mobile repair is normally reserved for roadworthy vehicles, which can continue to be used by fleets while they await cosmetic repairs, and therefore don’t require more intensive bodyshop services.
Thanks to the flexibility of mobile technicians, fleets can schedule mobile repairs at a time that suits both them and their driver, minimising the time for which the vehicle is off the road.
Roadside repairs for fleets
As the name suggests, roadside repairs are normally conducted at the scene of an incident, allowing drivers to continue their onward journey, and avoid off-road time altogether.
Once a driver reports an incident, if roadside repair is an option, a technician can be deployed to the scene immediately to get the vehicle back on the road safely.
This might be achieved by completing smaller repairs in-full, like wing mirror, headlamp, or tyre replacements, or by conducting temporary repairs to make the vehicle roadworthy - like reattaching or removing damaged trim or panels.
What kind of repairs can be conducted at the roadside?
Roadside vehicle repair is usually reserved for smaller, non-critical damage, which can be amended or temporarily repaired at the scene to allow for onward travel.
Roadside vehicle repair is most commonly used for:
Fixing pothole damage like flat tyres, cracked wheels, or detached trim
Replacing wing mirrors, door handles, or smaller functional components
Temporarily reattaching damaged panels & trim while full repair is arranged
Replacing headlamps, bulbs, and signals
Fixing minor mechanical problems
The benefits of utilising mobile & roadside repair for your fleet
Utilising mobile & roadside repairers can bring a number of operational benefits to your fleet, including:
1 - Reduced vehicle downtime & lower claims costs
Utilising mobile & roadside repair can reduce repair turnaround drastically for eligible vehicles, thanks to the repair-over-replace methods technicians deploy, and the fact there’s no need to transport the vehicle elsewhere.
This translates directly to reduced claims costs for fleets, helping them get their vehicles back on the road sooner post-incident, thus minimising lost earnings resulting from vehicle downtime.
It also reduces fleets’ reliance on credit hire vehicles, bringing further cost efficiencies. Mobile repairs can be scheduled around your drivers’ working patterns, meaning there’s no need to place them in a hire vehicle while their own is repaired.
2 - Less pressure on your bodyshop network
By utilising mobile repair for smaller jobs, and roadside repair to promote onward travel, fleets can reduce pressure on their bodyshop network, allowing it to focus on more intensive repairs.
This not only reduces vehicle downtime for vehicles receiving mobile repairs, but also helps to speed up turnaround for non-roadworthy jobs, by allowing these to be prioritised by bodyshop repairers.
Even if some mobile or roadside repairs only lead to temporary fixes, vehicles can continue to be used while they await bodyshop capacity, or the parts needed to repair them in full.
With the ongoing challenges faced by bodyshops, this can enable fleets to utilise their capacity more strategically, prioritising the most essential work, while scheduling smaller-scale repairs when capacity becomes available.
3 - Lower carbon footprint per repair
Mobile & roadside repairs can facilitate a reduced carbon footprint per repair completed, due to the decreased need to recover or transport the vehicle, and the repair-over-replace methodologies they utilise.
Mobile repairers often utilise ‘SMART’ repair methodologies, which focus on fixing damaged panels cosmetically, rather than replacing them entirely.
This can drastically reduce the number of new parts used by your fleet, and equally the number of damaged parts sent to landfill - leading to environmental benefits in both cases.
This empowers fleets to take more control over their ESG & environmental goals, and offset more energy and parts-intensive repairs across the rest of their fleet.
4 - Added convenience for your drivers
One of the most recognisable benefits of mobile & roadside repair is the immense convenience they bring to your drivers.
Roadside repairs, even if only temporary, allow drivers to continue with their normal working day, helping to alleviate some of the stress and pressure of being involved in an incident.
Additionally, mobile repairs can be arranged at a time and location convenient to your drivers - even out of working hours at their home address. This means less impact on their working pattern, and means they won’t be left unable to work if their vehicle needs repairing.
Roadside and mobile repairs are especially effective when used in conjunction, allowing drivers to continue safely with their journey, while a mobile technician is arranged for a later date.
For fleets, this means more productivity, and less need to source temporary replacement vehicles, which often come at a high cost, and can vary enormously in size and specification.
5 - The ability to integrate with SMR
Even if mobile or roadside repairs can’t offer a permanent fix, they can still allow fleets to arrange for more comprehensive repairs to be conducted alongside scheduled maintenance, services, or MOTs.
This enables fleets to keep the vehicle roadworthy, and in operation outside of its planned service window, meaning there’s no need for any additional, unplanned downtime.
By working in conjunction with their accident management & SMR partners, fleets can ensure that eligible repairs are identified correctly, through accurate triage & engineering, and scheduled accordingly for an appropriate window.
Joining the dots between these two everyday processes can inevitably bring huge time and cost-saving benefits for fleets, and further increase convenience for their drivers.
sopp+sopp: The Fleet Accident Management Specialists
sopp+sopp are industry leaders in fast, effective, and brand-focused fleet accident management. Since our conception in 2003, we’ve worked with some of the UK’s best-known fleets to deliver everything from tech-focused incident reporting, to specialist commercial vehicle repair, under a variety of claims circumstances.
Fleet specialist UK repair network, including mobile & roadside
Our service includes access to our self-owned, UK-wide network of Activate Accident Repair centres, as well as our network partnerships with mobile, roadside, and bodyshop repairers.
This allows our customers to harness a range of repair practices and specialisms, as and when they’re needed, based on our in-depth and consistent analysis of vehicles’ unique repair requirements.
FNOL & eNOL incident reporting
Our 24/7/365 First Notification of Loss service is supported by our self-developed eNOL application, Activate Initiate.
Initiate allows drivers to report incidents quickly and accurately using their mobile device, and upload supporting evidence quickly to inform swift recovery & repair deployment.
We’ve also partnered with camera & telematics providers to enable our ‘auto FNOL’ proposition, which automatically integrates vehicle location and dashcam data within the FNOL document.
Tech-driven right-first-time deployment
Our self-developed damage assessment tool, Activate Assess, makes it easy to identify opportunities for roadside & mobile repair as soon as an incident is reported.
Drivers are guided to scan their vehicle using their mobile phone camera, and upload photos of damaged areas, and all four corners of the vehicle.
This data is reviewed immediately by our in-house triage & engineering teams, allowing them to deploy the right services correctly the first time around. They’re supported by the latest engineering & damage detection technology, helping to solidify our consistent, efficiency-focused approach.
In-house engineering expertise
Our in-house engineering team are assisted by our system’s native integration with Audatex data, allowing them to assess and identify repair requirements quickly, correctly, and in-full.
This allows us to harness mobile, roadside, and bodyshop repairs incredibly effectively, and deploy the appropriate solution quickly - minimising vehicle downtime.
It also makes it easier to identify total loss accurately, ensuring vehicles aren’t deployed for repair unnecessarily, which can lead to overwhelmed capacity and increased driver downtime.
Discover more about sopp+sopp, and our award winning range of specialist fleet management services: