The Cost Leak
Weekly insights into operational cost leaks across African industries. Real fleets, real numbers, real fixes — no theory.
26 Episodes Published
Sorted by most recent
What fuel card fraud actually costs African fleets
Fuel card fraud is not a rumour. It is a documented, quantified, recurring problem across fleet operations on the continent — and most organisations expe…
The real cost of a fleet accident
When a vehicle in your fleet has an accident, the cost that appears on the P&L is the repair bill and the insurance excess. That is not the real cost of th…
What the industry benchmarks actually say about fuel efficiency
Benchmarking only works if you know what you are benchmarking against. Here are documented, published fuel efficiency benchmarks for vehicle categories com…
Tyre management: the $1,000 decision made by the person with the least information
Tyres are the second or third largest variable cost in most fleet operations. They are also, consistently, the least systematically managed.…
Fleet size is not fleet efficiency
There is a persistent belief in fleet management that the solution to delivery pressure is more vehicles. The result is a fleet that is larger than it need…
The total cost of vehicle ownership nobody calculates
Most fleet operators know what a vehicle costs to buy. Almost none know what it costs to own. Total Cost of Ownership is a documented methodology — and i…
Idle engines are burning money right now
While you read this, there is a vehicle in your fleet with its engine running and its wheels stationary. That is not an assumption. It is a statistical nea…
Reactive maintenance costs 3–9x more than preventive maintenance
The relationship between reactive and preventive maintenance cost is one of the most robustly documented findings in fleet management research.…
Fleet insurance is renewed, not managed
The fleet insurance market rewards informed clients and penalises passive ones. That is not an opinion. It is documented in how insurance pricing works.…
Supplier contracts drift if you don't manage them
The Centre for Advanced Procurement and Supply documents a phenomenon called "contract value leakage" — the gradual erosion of value locked into a signed…
Driver behaviour is the biggest single controllable cost variable
Of all the levers available to a fleet operator, driver behaviour has the broadest and most documented impact on cost — affecting fuel, tyres, brakes, ac…
Parts procurement without a policy is procurement at retail
The price of a spare part is not fixed. A 2023 benchmarking study found the average price variance for identical OEM parts purchased without a structured p…
Fleet software is generating reports nobody reads
The fleet management software market is large, growing, and — for most of its users — significantly underutilised. Operator surveys consistently identi…
Vehicle downtime cost is larger than vehicle repair cost
Fleet maintenance costs are visible. Vehicle downtime costs are invisible. They appear nowhere on most P&Ls — but they are consistently documented as the…
Fleet size optimisation: the underutilisation problem
The instinctive response to service delivery pressure in fleet operations is fleet expansion. The data-supported response is utilisation measurement first.…
Total cost of ownership vs acquisition price: the wrong number drives most decisions
Vehicle procurement decisions in most fleet operations are made primarily on acquisition price. Acquisition price typically represents 25–35% of the tota…
The compliance cost of non-compliance
Fleet regulatory compliance is typically managed as an administrative function. The cost of non-compliance is typically managed as an emergency.…
Route optimisation: the saving hiding in plain sight
Route efficiency is the most underanalysed cost dimension in most fleet operations. The vehicles follow routes established when the operation was smaller �…
The tyre cost nobody forecasts correctly
Tyres are the third largest variable operating cost in most commercial fleet operations. They are also the cost most consistently underestimated in fleet b…
Fleet accidents: the costs that don't show on the repair invoice
The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety documents what it calls the full-cost model of a fleet accident. The direct cost represents approximately 20% o…
Fuel card management: the gap between policy and practice
Fuel cards are the standard mechanism for controlling fleet fuel spend. They are also a consistently documented source of fuel cost leakage when not active…
Driver turnover costs more than you think
Fleet operations have high driver turnover relative to many other sectors. The cost of driver turnover is documented and significant — and includes eleme…
Fleet electrification economics in emerging markets
Electric vehicle adoption in commercial fleet operations is accelerating in established markets. The economics in African markets are different — and the…
Vehicle specification: wrong spec is a permanent cost
A vehicle purchased to the wrong specification for its application carries that specification mismatch as a cost for every kilometre of its operating life.…
The fuel levy and excise recovery most fleet operators miss
Most commercial fleet operators in Africa overpay fuel costs by failing to recover duties and levies they are legally entitled to reclaim.…
What a well-run fleet costs — the benchmark target
Twelve weeks of problems deserve one episode on the destination. What does a well-run fleet actually cost, per vehicle, per year? The benchmarks exist — …
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