Part
01
of one
Part
01
What is the average cost of windshield replacement annually for a fleet company including windshield repair (repairs necessary to get truck back on the road) and truck downtime (profit lost on stopped operations)?
While there is no pre-compiled study on the annual costs to maintain windshield repairs in a fleet of trucks, based on the known incidence of damaged windshields, known average repair and replacement costs, and known downtime costs in the trucking industry, we estimate that a fleet of 1,000 trucks will suffer an average of 40 damaged windshields a year, requiring an average of $12,316 in repair costs and costing an additional $9,104.80 due to downtime, for a total annual cost of $21,420.80. This amounts to a little under $59 per day.
BASE ASSUMPTIONS
The question does not state exactly what kind of fleet company is involved. However, since the question twice refers to "trucks," we understand it to pertain to a fleet of semi-trailer trucks, not to a car rental fleet. Secondly, we will assume a mixed fleet, so that we need to find the average cost of windshield replacement rather than the cost for a particular make and model of truck. Thirdly, windshield replacement is frequently covered by insurance, but for the purposes of this study, we will assume that either the trucking fleet lacks coverage for cracked windshields or that the deductible costs effectively negate the savings from insurance.
ESTABLISHING THE REPAIR COST
A survey of windshield repair companies who handle or specialize in semi-truck repair shows that they do not offer pricing on their sites, instead asking for the details about the truck and the damage so that they can offer a quote. This is not only because the cost of the windshield glass itself can vary, but because some trucks are more difficult to do the replacement work on than others; Peterbilt’s, for example, are notoriously difficult to work with, while a truck built with "a two-piece gasket-mounted windshield is available for easy, low-cost windshield replacements.”
The average cost of replacing a windshield on a car is $214, but actual prices can range from $185 to $1000. However, that upper limit is for luxury vehicles which require very specific windshields that are only available through the dealer. The normal maximum cost for a car is about $325. Many glass repair services specifically offer to replace the windshield of a truck "in the field" just as they would for a car. One even specifically states, "Repairing the windshield on a semi-truck is about the same as doing any other vehicle." Therefore, the normal upper maximum of $325 for a windshield replacement is a credible median price for a semi-trailer truck.
Since windshield repair on a truck is equivalent to a repair on a car, the cost to repair a crack should likewise be equivalent. Again, the cost varies greatly depending on who is doing the repairs. "For example, recent windshield repair estimates from three Chicago-area auto glass companies ranged from $70 to $115 to $238 to repair the same nickel-sized windshield chip." For purposes of this study, we will take the average of $154 (($70+238)/2) to be the average cost to repair, not replace a truck windshield.
ESTABLISHING THE DOWNTIME COST
Most windshield replacement companies boast that they can finish most repairs within an hour, though with the caveat that the make and model of the car and the method used to install the old windshield may cause the repair to take longer. As noted in the previous section, many glass repair companies will replace a truck windshield on the road just as they will for any other vehicle. Of course, transport times must be factored in as well. Google maps shows that even in rush-hour traffic, the normal worst-case scenario for reaching a semi on the far side of the Atlanta is about an hour and 20 minutes. If we also assume that the window repair / replacement takes two hours, twice the usual time, then at worst we can expect that the truck will be down for 3 1/2 hours.
Downtime costs and average of $31.25 per hour in profitability in addition to $48.07 per hour for the downtime of a salaried driver, for a total of $79.32 per hour. Therefore, if every window repair requires 3 1/2 hours of downtime, the total cost to the fleet would be $277.62.
ESTABLISHING THE FREQUENCY
Finally, we need to assess the frequency with which windshields are cracked and how often those cracked can be repaired rather than replaced. A traditional rule of thumb is that only cracks shorter than a dollar bill can be repaired instead of replaced. According to a 2003 study from Insurance Journal, such cracks comprise about 10% of all for which repair is sought. We could not find a more recent source which contradicted this one. The same study claims that there are 5-6 million damaged windshields per year which have cracks of less than a foot long and that this is 63% of all damaged windshields. This means that in 2003 there were about 9.5 million damaged windshields. In that year, there were 236.7 million cars registered in the US. Therefore, the annual incidence of windshield damage is about 4% (9.5 / 236.7).
THE ANNUAL COST
Therefore, if you have a fleet of 1,000 trucks, you can expect that 40 will require window repair each year. Four (10%) will require repair while the other 36 will require replacement. Assuming an average downtime of 3.5 hours per repair, the costs will be as follows:
4 trucks x $154 for repairs = $616
36 trucks x $325 for replacement = $11,700
Total repair costs = $12,316
40 trucks x $277.62 in lost productivity = $9,104.80 in downtime costs
Total annual loss due to damaged windshields per 1,000 trucks = $21,420.80
This total scales well to any fleet size.
CONCLUSION
Based on the statistical incidence of broken windshields, the known average cost of repair and replacement, the known cost of lost productivity, and a high-end estimate of lost productive hours due to needed repairs, we estimate that a fleet of 1,000 trucks will require an estimated $21,420 in windshield repair and replacement per year, or about $59 per day. This amount can be scaled up or down depending on the total size of the fleet.