A work truck is wrecked and a crew is waiting: building a fleet repair plan in advance

The fleet plan in one paragraph

Keep fleet downtime low by deciding everything you can before the next accident: choose a body shop in advance and agree on fleet pricing, give every driver a one-page accident checklist, name who can authorize repairs and up to what amount, arrange how towing and replacement vehicles will work, and keep a repair file for each vehicle. In our experience, most of the days a damaged work vehicle loses are spent waiting for someone to decide something, not waiting for the repair itself.

We at ACE Body & Frame repair collision damage on fleet vehicles as well as personal cars and trucks, and we offer fleet discounts to companies that keep several vehicles on the road. The businesses that get their vehicles back fastest are rarely the ones with the newest trucks. They are the ones with a plan. This guide lays one out.

Where the lost days actually go

Follow a damaged company van from the moment of impact and the pattern is familiar. The driver calls a supervisor, who is in a meeting. The van keeps running because it still drives. A week later someone asks for an estimate, then another, then waits for a manager to approve one. The insurer needs its own inspection. The shop opens the van up and finds more damage, which needs another approval. Parts are ordered only after all of that.

None of those steps are the repair. They are decisions, and nearly every one of them could have been made before the accident happened. A fleet repair plan simply moves those decisions to a calm day, so that when a vehicle is damaged, everyone already knows what to do.

• No one is sure who should be called first
• No shop has been chosen, so estimates are gathered from scratch
• No one has authority to approve the repair without a meeting
• The damaged vehicle stays in service until the damage gets worse
• No replacement vehicle is arranged, so the crew waits or doubles up

Choose the repair shop on a calm day

Pick your body shop the way you would pick any important vendor: visit, ask questions and agree on terms before you need it. Ask whether the shop already repairs fleet vehicles like yours, whether it offers fleet pricing, whether frame and structural work is done in-house, and how it handles towing and replacement transportation. Ask who your contact will be and how updates are communicated. Our guide on how to choose an auto body shop has a fuller list of questions.

Under one roof matters more for fleets than for families. When frame and suspension repair, welding and fabrication, glass replacement, upholstery and body and paint are all done in the same shop, a truck does not lose days traveling between vendors. We handle all of those in-house, along with mechanical diagnostics, which means one call covers most of what a damaged work vehicle needs.

Give every driver a one-page accident checklist

Drivers are the first people on the scene, and they are usually shaken. A short checklist kept in the glove box or on their phone means the important information gets collected every time, whoever is driving. Keep it to one page so it actually gets used, and review it with new drivers on their first day.

Make the checklist specific to your company. Put the fleet contact's name and number at the top, the towing number below it and your insurer's claim line under that. If your vehicles carry dash cameras or telematics, add a line telling drivers how to save the footage or flag the event, because recordings are often overwritten quickly. The goal is that a new hire on their second week can handle an accident exactly the same way as your most experienced driver.

• Make sure everyone is safe and call for help if anyone is hurt
• Call the police when required and get the report number
• Photograph all vehicles, the damage, the scene and the other driver's plate
• Exchange names, insurance details and contact information, and stick to facts
• Call the named fleet contact before leaving the scene
• Do not drive the vehicle if it pulls hard, leaks fluid, rubs a tire or shows warning lights
• Use the approved towing number rather than whoever arrives first

Decide who approves repairs, and how far they can go

The single most effective change most companies can make is naming one person who can approve a repair without calling a meeting, with a clear dollar limit. Below that limit, the repair proceeds as soon as the estimate is reviewed. Above it, a second person signs off within a set time. That one rule removes days from almost every repair.

Decide in advance, with your commercial insurance agent, how claims will be handled: which kinds of damage go to the insurer, which the company pays directly, and who reports claims. That is a business and insurance decision rather than a body shop decision. Our part is to provide a clear computerized estimate quickly, document hidden damage when it is found and work with whichever insurer is involved, ours or the other driver's. Estimates are free, so getting one on the day of the accident costs nothing.

Do not let a damaged vehicle keep working

It is tempting to keep a dented truck in service because it still drives and the schedule is full. Sometimes that is fine for a few days. But collision damage that looks cosmetic can include bent suspension parts or structure pushed out of position, which leads to uneven tire wear, poor handling and a vehicle that will protect its occupants less well in the next collision. Our guide on the warning signs of frame damage explains what drivers and managers should look for.

Small damage left alone also tends to grow. A cracked bumper cover lets water and road debris in, chipped paint on steel begins to rust, and a door that does not seal properly lets water into the cab. Getting an estimate within a day or two of the damage, even if the repair is scheduled later, tells you whether the vehicle is safe to keep running in the meantime.

Keeping crews working while a vehicle is down

Towing is available through our shop, and rental car service is available, which covers the most common gap: getting the damaged vehicle off the road and getting the driver back to work. For specialized work trucks that cannot simply be replaced by a rental car, the plan should include which spare vehicle or which crew will cover the route, decided in advance rather than on the day.

If several vehicles need work at once, talk to the shop about scheduling them in sequence so that one is returned before the next comes in, rather than taking several out of service at the same time. Our guide on how long a collision repair takes explains the stages a repair moves through, which helps with planning around them.

Keep a repair file for every vehicle

A simple file for each vehicle pays for itself. Keep the photos from the accident, every estimate, the repair authorization and the completed repair order. The Federal Trade Commission's auto repair guidance recommends getting a completed repair order that lists each repair, the parts supplied, the labor charges and the odometer readings, and keeping records of all transactions. For a fleet, those records answer questions about warranty, resale value and recurring problems.

Over time, the files show patterns. If the same corner of several vans keeps getting damaged, the problem may be a tight loading area or a backing habit that a little training can fix. If one vehicle keeps coming back, it may be time to retire it. Ask the shop what its guarantee covers and keep that in the file too; all of our repairs are satisfaction guaranteed.

What working with our shop looks like for a fleet

For fleet customers, we offer fleet discounts, free computerized estimates and acceptance of all insurance claims. We repair fleet and personal vehicles, foreign and domestic, including pickups, vans and the occasional motor home or RV, and we handle frame and suspension repair, welding and fabrication, glass, upholstery and diagnostics in-house. Towing and rental car service are available.

The owners have run the shop under the same ownership since 1987 and bring more than 80 years of combined experience, which matters when a fleet needs a shop that will still be there for the next vehicle and the one after that. We serve businesses in Balch Springs, Mesquite and the surrounding southeast Dallas County area.

Set it up before the next phone call

The best time to set up a fleet repair plan is before a driver calls from the side of the road. Stop by our shop on South Peachtree Road, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to talk through your vehicles, fleet pricing, towing and how estimates and approvals will work. If a vehicle is already damaged, bring it in or have it towed, and we will start with a free computerized estimate.

For the insurance side of an accident, from the first adjuster call to your right to choose the shop, our guide on what to do after a wreck when the insurer names a shop applies to company vehicles as much as personal ones. Either way, the goal is the same: a vehicle repaired correctly once, and back on the road with as few lost days as possible.

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