Building an on-call breakdown and maintenance team

Do you need out-of-hours cover?

Contractors working early starts, nights or weekends expect someone to answer. Even if you can't send a fitter at 6am, a phone answered with a clear plan keeps the customer. Decide what you'll offer: phone support only, or attendance within a set time.

Rotas

• Rotate weekly between fitters and experienced drivers.
• Publish the rota a month ahead.
• Allow swaps, recorded by the office.
• Give rest after a night call-out.
• Include a manager escalation contact.

On-call pay

Whether standby time counts as working time depends on how restricted the person is. Take advice and check pay never falls below the National Minimum Wage for hours that count.

The breakdown van

• Common hoses and fittings for your main models.
• Filters, fuses, bulbs, a battery booster.
• Diagnostic tools and laptop for machines that need them.
• Spill kit, PPE, lighting, recovery straps.
• Customer paperwork and a way to record the job.

Call handling

1. 01

   Divert the number

   Out-of-hours calls go to the on-call phone.

2. 02

   Triage

   Safety first, then quick checks; see breakdown response.

3. 03

   Decide

   Fix by phone, attend, swap or wait until morning.

4. 04

   Log it

   Against the hire in your booking system.

5. 05

   Hand over

   Morning summary to the office.

Outsourcing

Small firms can agree out-of-hours cover with a mobile fitter or dealer, or a reciprocal arrangement with another hire firm. Agree response times and rates in writing before you need them.

Keeping it sustainable

• Track call-outs: causes, times, outcomes.
• Fix the root causes; most repeat calls are preventable.
• Review the rota and pay yearly.
• Don't promise customers response times you can't meet.