The Consequences of Not Staying on Top of Agent Vehicle Depreciation

Your government agents depend on vehicles working for them to go out in the field. No matter what department they operate in when they’re out on assignment, it’s crucial you have vehicles that work. Agent vehicle depreciation can get in the way of doing exactly that if not managed well.

While some assignments that require countrywide travel mean you’ll be in the hands of someone else, you still have dozens of vehicles to manage. Not managing them results in several outcomes that will have negative consequences for your entire organization.

Here are just a few.

Last Minute Lodging

Depending on how far into the field your agents are traveling, if their vehicles break down while they’re out in the middle of an assignment, you might need to put them up in lodging. While doing this once or twice isn’t a significant issue, it can quickly rack up if it happens to several of your agents throughout the year.

You could also pay for a rental car and risk issues that come with working with an outside organization. Either way, you’ll end up with sudden expenses that can quickly come out of a budget you needed for other things.

Delays in Reaching Destination

Even if you have a plan in place for dealing with vehicles breaking down in the middle of an assignment, your agents won’t reach their destination on time. Depending on their department, this could result in severe consequences. Some visits are time-sensitive, and if you miss the window, you won’t have another chance for quite some time.

Showing up much later than expected makes not just your agents, but also your department, look unprofessional. Any trust you may have been working to build with potentially uncooperative individuals may be at risk. Some times, you can’t afford to be late.

Risk Emergency Calls Going Unanswered

On some occasions, your agents receive emergency calls they have to address immediately. If they can’t count on their vehicles to work the first time, they could miss the chance to address the emergency.

This can have dire consequences, and lives could be at stake. Disaster response needs to be immediate at whatever level of government is answering the call. Even spending a couple of minutes to make a vehicle work can mean the difference between saving a life and losing one.

Wasted Government Dollars

As a government agency, you rely on allocations and government funding to continue operating. When you aren’t able to stay on top of depreciation and vehicle repairs, you’re wasting your financing. Having to deal with last-minute rentals or unplanned hotel accommodations uses funds you need to put into salaries, other travel expenses, and more.

It’s one thing to plan on travel and car rentals in your budget. It’s another to have agents constantly need these at the last minute because of unreliable vehicles. Unplanned expenses can quickly become a drain to your operation and need to be prevented as much as possible.

You don’t have to roll over and accept vehicle depreciation rendering your vehicles unusable. Tracking agent vehicle depreciation will help you see when your cars need to go in for maintenance. It’ll also help when they need repairs and inspection to prevent the decreasing value from interrupting your services.

Setting up a system to stay on top of vehicle depreciation will help you see when vehicles have outlived their useful life cycle and need to be maintained or replaced. Once you have a system, you’ll stay within your allocated budget, be mobile enough to respond to emergencies, and prevent unprofessional delays from bogging you down.