Fleet customers are looking for garages that are better integrated with service, maintenance and repair (SMR) processes, according to findings from FleetCheck.
The company found that drivers were submitting issues both to the fleet and the garage directly through the FleetCheck walkaround app.
Garages then arranged the job booking directly with the driver, while fleet systems are automatically updated, enabling the SMR process to be streamlined.
Callum Haymon-Collins, chief operating officer at FleetCheck, said: “This is something we have seen adopted more and more in the last year or so, especially by commercial vehicle fleets where defect reporting tends to be much more integral to day-to-day operations.
“Effectively, fleets and their suppliers are using the technology to condense the chain of communication.
“Instead of an issue being reported by the driver to the fleet, then the fleet to the SMR provider, the latter becomes more central to the process.
“Of course, this is only made possible by a high level of integration between the software used by drivers, fleets and garages – and this is an area where we have carried out a lot of work on APIs in recent years.
“Fleets are making their suppliers part of safety processes that may have legal ramifications if they go wrong.
“Extensive safeguards are provided by the systems used, but there still needs to be a very strong relationship with suppliers.”
