10:22 am, June 2, 2020
Fleets and garages are thrashing out who should pay for the sanitisation of cars and vans that are having work done, says ecommerce specialist epyx.
Although it’s generally agreed that a thorough sanitising is needed before vehicles are handed back after service, maintenance and repair (SMR), who is liable for the cleaning products and PPE equipment used plus the time taken is proving to be a bone of contention.
Tim Meadows, vice-president and commercial director at epyx, said: ‘This is a development that we are just starting to see through our 1link Service Network SMR platform, which is used by fleets totalling four million vehicles, as lockdown starts to ease.
‘Sanitisation is becoming recognised as an essential part of almost any visit by a vehicle to a workshop.
‘The car or van is potentially touched by many people as part of almost any SMR process, and the potential spread of infection needs to be minimised.
‘However, that sanitisation has a cost and is starting to appear as a formal charge on some job sheets.
‘The question is, who pays? Garages see it, understandably, as an additional cost that they shouldn’t have to bear. Their fleet customers, equally understandably, feel the same.’
He added that it was especially an issue where, on lower SMR bills, it could be interpreted as a disproportionate amount.
‘If you are having £1,000 of work done, then a potential £10 item doesn’t stick out, but if your car is in the workshop for an MOT test or even just having a small repair, it becomes more noticeable.
‘Some of the fleets that use 1link Service Network have hundreds of thousands of maintenance jobs every year, and adding £10 to each suddenly becomes a very large sum of money.
‘Equally, this is a significant cost for garages to absorb. However efficient they become at sanitisation, this is something that takes time and money.
‘One thing that we have found during the coronavirus crisis, though, is that a very strong spirit of co-operation has emerged across our industry.
‘Everyone recognises that they are facing the same issues and they need to resolve them together. We are sure that sensible solutions will be found to this problem.’
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