Fleet concern over downtime is easing - Arval

Fleets concern over downtime has shown a slight improvement during the last year, according the 2026 Arval Mobility Observatory Barometer.

Of those surveyed, 21% have seen an increase in vehicle-off-road (VOR) rates during the last 12 months, compared to 24% last year.

John Peters, Head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, said: “In recent times, the sector has seen unusually high downtime, something caused by a combination of factors including shortages in workshop capacity, a need for more trained technicians and poor parts availability.”

“While our impression at Arval UK is the situation is beginning to ease a little on an industrywide basis, none of these problems are easily resolved and require long-term investment, so it is pleasing that fleet perceptions are improving.”

John Peters, Head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK Tweet

Short term rental more popular

The research also asked fleets which measures they have adopted to counter downtime. The leading answer for 2026 is using short or medium-term rental – now mentioned by 52% of respondents compared to 41% last year and 34% in 2024.

John said: “Rental provides a fast and flexible solution when a vehicle is needed, and several new and innovative solutions have been brought to market in the last few years in response to changing fleet needs, including our own Arval Flex product or re-lease of selected used existing Arval cars. The strong growth seen in our research reflects these advantages.”

Finding better parts supply, less delaying repairs

Fleets are also using a variety of downtime management measures less often. Today, 40% of vehicle operators say they are introducing manufacturers with better parts supply, down from 47% in 2025 and 52% in 2024.

Also, 34% are managing processes more closely, compared to 44% and 43% in earlier years, while only 22% have increased the size of their pool fleet, against 28% and 30%. Delaying repairs is also less popular, at 24% now versus 30% and 40%.

John said: “Taken together, these findings add credence to the impression the downtime situation is improving. Fleet managers are spending less time managing VOR issues and basing fewer of their strategic decisions on the need to maximise car and van availability.

“In fact, the only remaining factor holding steady in our research is the 29% introducing new service, maintenance and repair providers, similar to 28% in 2025 and 31% in 2024. This underlines difficulties with finding the right suppliers in a sector where capacity remains an issue and prices continue to rise, albeit more slowly than in recent years.

“Overall, though, we believe that these are moderately positive results. Excessive downtime is an issue that is not going to be solved quickly but these findings provide evidence that fleets believe improvements are in motion.”

What actions have you taken to manage vehicle downtime?

	2026	2025
Use short or medium term hire to replace vehicles	52%	41%
Introduce manufacturers with better parts supply	40%	47%
Manage the process more closely	34%	44%
Introduce better service and repair suppliers	24%	30%
Where safe, keep vehicles off road until repairs possible	22%	28%

For the 2026 Arval Fleet and Mobility Observatory survey, 10,157 company decision makers were interviewed across 33 countries by the independent research company, Ipsos, out of which 305 interviews took place in the UK.