Vendor categories to build out
Heavy-duty repair, towing (light + heavy), mobile mechanic, tire (24/7 roadside), glass, trailer, refrigeration. Build per-lane: top 20 corridors get coverage every 100–150 mi.
Your fleet is only as good as the vendors that fix it when it breaks. Building the network is a discipline, not a phone list.
Most fleets manage vendors reactively — call whoever's closest at 2am. The fleets with sub-2-hour MTTR built a pre-vetted national network long before the breakdown.
Heavy-duty repair, towing (light + heavy), mobile mechanic, tire (24/7 roadside), glass, trailer, refrigeration. Build per-lane: top 20 corridors get coverage every 100–150 mi.
W-9, COI ($1M+ liability), rate sheet (labor + tow hookup + per-mile + storage), payment terms, after-hours number, ASE/MMR/TIA certifications, photos of bay capacity.
Track response time, first-call fix rate, invoice accuracy, comeback rate. Review quarterly. Rotate volume to the best 80%; have a backup ready for the other 20%.
For coverage every 150 mi on top lanes plus all major terminals, most national fleets manage 200–600 active repair vendors plus tire and tow networks.
Services like FleetNet, Cox FleetServices, and Sleet Network bundle vendor management for a per-event fee. Good for fleets <100 units; in-house usually wins at scale.