On-Site vs Shop Fleet Maintenance: Where the Hidden Costs Are

Week 8 · On-site service · Cost comparison

Many fleets compare maintenance options by looking only at the invoice. If the shop rate is lower than a mobile rate, it’s easy to assume the shop is cheaper. But that ignores driver time, shuttle trips, and how much of your schedule gets rearranged around a building across town.

Let’s walk through a practical comparison between shop-based maintenance and on-site service.

Scenario: Three trucks due for PM-B

Imagine you have three Class 6–8 trucks due for a PM-B service. You can either:

• Send them one by one to a shop.
• Schedule an on-site PM day at your yard.

Shop-based maintenance

A typical shop scenario might look like:

• Driver shuttles truck to shop (30–60 minutes each way).
• Truck sits in the lot until a bay opens.
• PM is completed, plus possible add-ons you didn’t plan for.
• Driver or supervisor goes back to retrieve the truck.

On paper, the invoice might show 2–3 hours of labor. In reality, the unit was out of your control for most of a workday, and your people lost several hours just moving it around.

On-site maintenance

With an on-site PM day, the picture changes:

• You and your provider agree on a list of units ahead of time.
• Drivers park those units in a designated row in your yard.
• The tech works down the list, one unit at a time.
• Drivers remain available for other work or later routes.

The labor time on the invoice may be similar, but the disruption to your operation is much lower.

Hidden cost #1: Driver and supervisor time

Driver time spent shuttling trucks is rarely billed to maintenance, but it’s a real cost:

• Unproductive miles.
• Hours that could have been used on paying work.
• Extra load on dispatch to work around unit availability.

On-site maintenance cuts most of that out. Units start and end the day where they live.

Hidden cost #2: Missed opportunities and delayed work

When a truck is at a shop, it’s not available for last-minute opportunities or schedule changes. Even if work goes smoothly, you lose flexibility that might matter on busy days.

With on-site service, you can often sequence PMs around your slowest windows and non-peak times.

Hidden cost #3: Communication gaps

Shop visits often involve:

• Phone tag about estimates and approvals.
• Surprise repairs you didn’t plan for.
• Uncertainty about when the unit will be ready.

On-site work tends to be more transparent: you can walk outside, talk through findings, and make decisions in real time.

Which work still belongs in a shop?

Some work will always belong in a brick-and-mortar shop:

• Major engine and drivetrain teardown.
• Frame and alignment work.
• Specific warranty repairs.

But PMs, inspections, and a large portion of repair work can often be done in your yard.

Want to see the numbers for your fleet?

We can sit down with your current PM schedule and build a simple comparison between what you’re doing now and what an on-site plan would look like — including labor, downtime, and driver time.