Fleet SMR lead times vary across UK regions

LONDON leads the way in fleet vehicle service, maintenance, and repair (SMR) lead times, while the South West trails behind, according to new data from epyx’s 1link Service Network platform.

The data, which covers the period between January 2023 and October 2024, shows that the shortest average time between when a company car or van booking was created and when the vehicle went in for work was 12.46 days in London. Yorkshire and the Humber came in second at 12.91 days, followed by the North East at 12.98 days.

The longest average lead times were in the South West (13.86 days), East of England (13.66 days), and South East (13.54 days).

Tim Meadows, CCO at epyx, said that the variation in lead times across the UK is surprisingly low. He also noted that the data suggests that supply and demand for SMR is relatively evenly distributed across the country.

“What this probably indicates is that supply and demand for SMR is relatively evenly-distributed across the UK, with no regions where there appears to be either shortages or surfeits of provision,” Meadows said.

Epyx’s data also shows that national SMR lead times have risen by more than 57% since the start of the pandemic. In January 2020, the average time was 8.11 days, but it had increased to 12.76 days by October 2023.

Meadows added that the factors that are affecting SMR providers, such as reduced access to parts, consumables, and recruitment, have had a similar impact everywhere.