By RAM Tracking on 14 Jul 2017

Additional costs to consider for any business

Vehicles are to be maintained specifically, but what hasn’t been taken into account is the added costs for this. Not only for buying cars from the EU, with a weakened sterling rate, but also in regards to the trade deals. Some of which can affect the parts needed to ensure that vehicles are maintained not only to fleet guidelines but also to the manufacturer's specifications.

There are many other costs that are bound to be causing effects for companies due to the Brexit negotiations:

• At the moment, there is a fuel duty freeze, but this could increase once the UK leaves the EU. This could be determined solely on the trade deals that are negotiated between our government and the EU.
• There is also vehicle excise duty taxes that are due to come into force. Mostly penalising vehicles with a higher engine size, which most company vans and trucks will run. This means that taxes will be increased.
• To benefit from lesser costs overall, it could mean looking into replacing your fleet entirely in order to ensure that new vehicles are within a lower CO2 emissions. Thankfully, this is only just being brought on newly registered vehicles, which could mean you have some time before huge replacements are going to be made.

Will road safety be improved?

It’s not all doom and gloom however as Brexit could bring some benefits, some of which could benefit motorists all over the UK. One of the first aspects could be the roads and the repairs in which are often needed. You can’t make any journey without coming across one road that is in disrepair. This could be down to potholes or even utility companies not repairing a road back up to standard after their own line of work and maintenance has taken place.

Over the course of a vehicle's life, this road damage can cause issues with vehicles becoming damaged themselves, or even cause further accidents or reckless driving. Ensuring that the roads are repaired and up to a safety standard could mean less unexpected maintenance costs in regards to vehicle body damage or suspensions issues.

But what about companies that rely solely on transporting goods via roads? Or even exporting their goods outside of the UK with EU deals already formed? There are statistics to suggest that 44% of what the UK produces gets exported out to the EU, which could diminish and reduce once Brexit negotiations have completed. It could mean less demand for goods, but it shouldn't be any effect for trades and deliveries taking place within the UK.

How about travel between the UK and EU?

Another factor to consider is how long it may take to pass through borders. Brexit could create potential barriers between the UK and certain countries. Making passage even longer and, of course, costing more in time and delivery - there could even be a driver shortage. We all know that many EU nationals come into the UK to work, and one of the jobs they will happily take is driving. This could mean a shortage in drivers as the border becomes more restrictive on who can enter the country to work and live.

Of course, only time will tell before we really know for sure whether or not Brexit will benefit, or hinder, your company performance. But it could be a wise move to prepare for some of the foreseen eventualities.

How can vehicle tracking help?

Vehicle tracking devices across your fleet can help you prepare for Brexit by supplying you with a better understand of logistics and driver behaviour. RAM Tracking telematics software can be used to keep on top of driving durations, optimal journey planning, fuel consumption and vehicle maintenance.

Having access to this data in real-time means that you can quickly assess and analyse some of the effects of Brexit as and when they come into effect. The alternative is the pain-staking process of manually going through paperwork and having to ask drivers to use archaic methods of recording their journeys e.g. filling out journey status reports by hand.

Having access to this data quickly and concisely can ensure that no time is wasted trying to plan and replan once the ever-changing Brexit negotiations come to an end.