Supply chain volatility in the commercial automotive sector is a hot topic. (Why Time Has Become the Most Expensive Variable in Commercial Deals)
Introduction: The Deal Isn’t Lost — It’s Bleeding
In the Commercial / Fleet / Government (CFG) automotive business, most deals don’t fail loudly.
They fail quietly.
They bleed margin through:
- Delays that were never priced
- Inventory that sits longer than planned
- Customers who lose confidence while waiting
- Cash flow that slows without warning
Supply chain volatility and extended lead times are no longer temporary disruptions.
They are structural realities that leadership must design around — not wish away.
The New Reality: Lead Times Are the Norm, Not the Exception
Commercial and government vehicle procurement now routinely involves:
- Extended OEM order banks
- Allocation uncertainty
- Parts shortages
- Transportation delays
- Upfit backlogs
- Courtesy delivery coordination
- Delayed billing and funding
This affects:
- Light-duty fleets
- Medium-duty trucks
- Heavy-duty chassis
- Government contracts
- Utility and service vehicles
The issue is not that delays exist.
The issue is that most dealerships are still operating as if they don’t.
Where Supply Chain Volatility Hurts the Most
1. Quoting Without Accounting for Time
Time is a cost — but it’s rarely priced.
When quotes fail to include:
- Days in process
- Floorplan exposure
- Capital is tied up during delays
- Extended holding costs
Profitability erodes before the vehicle ever arrives.
High-performing dealerships treat time as a line item, not an afterthought.
2. Order-to-Delivery Blind Spots
Many leadership teams can answer:
- “How many units are on order?”
Far fewer can answer:
- “How long has each unit been stuck at each stage?”
Without visibility into:
- Order submission
- Build scheduling
- Production
- Transit
- Upfit
- Delivery readiness
Problems surface too late — when they are expensive to fix.
3. Customer Confidence Erosion
Commercial customers plan operations around delivery dates:
- Staffing
- Asset deployment
- Budget cycles
- Contract obligations
When timelines shift without clear communication:
- Trust erodes
- Pressure increases
- The dealership becomes reactive
- The customer starts looking elsewhere
Transparency beats speed every time.
Leadership Mistake: Treating Delays as Exceptions
Many dealerships still say:
“Once things normalize, this won’t be an issue.”
The leaders winning in CFG understand something critical:
This is the new operating environment.
Supply chain volatility is not a phase.
It is a condition, and conditions require systems.
What High-Performing Dealerships Do Differently
Winning commercial operations:
- Build extended lead times into expectations from day one
- Track days-in-stage, not just units sold
- Design customer communication cadence around delays
- Align Sales, Fixed Ops, Parts, and Accounting early
- Protect margin by pricing risk appropriately
They don’t promise speed they can’t control.
They promise clarity and execution.
Courtesy Deliveries: A Strategic Advantage When Used Correctly
Many dealerships overlook a powerful lever already in place.
Courtesy deliveries allow:
- OEMs to ship vehicles closer to end users
- Reduced transportation complexity
- Faster in-service dates
- Shared responsibility across dealer networks
Attempting to control every step internally often adds friction instead of removing it.
Leadership that understands when to partner — not dominate — wins more consistently.
The Executive Shift: From “When Will It Be Here?” to “How Are We Managing Time?”
The wrong question:
“Why is this taking so long?”
The right question:
“Do we have systems that make time predictable, visible, and profitable?”
That shift changes:
- How deals are structured
- How customers are managed
- How cash flow is protected
- How leadership views CFG risk
Closing Perspective for Dealer Leadership
Supply chain volatility exposes weak systems — but it rewards strong leadership.
Dealerships that:
- Acknowledge extended lead times
- Design processes around them
- Communicate clearly
- Price risk intelligently
Do not lose deals.
They gain trust, scale profitably, and become indispensable partners.
Time is no longer your enemy — unless you ignore it.
There is a way of tracking this to the benefit of everyone involved, from the DP to the customer end user. Please reach out to identify where we can improve this vital communication and to set up systems that will help reduce the number of days to delivery.
