TIME AND PLACE
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R&M contracts usually charge a premium for out-of-hours servicing. Dealers and repairers running a two-shift system covering 6am-10pm may treat all that time as standard with no differential. On the other hand, technicians on ‘real’ night work command a premium, which is reflected in the labour rate.
Many common faults such as cracked mirrors, blown bulbs, flat batteries and broken air-lines are likely to occur in your own yard, so clarify if and how the R&M contract provides on-site assistance. Is it treated as a roadside breakdown? If roadside assistance is not part of the contract, it is worth seeing if you can negotiate a special rate for on-site call-outs with your maintenance contractor. Either way, it makes sense to have a self-help kit of spare bulbs, mirrors, air-lines, top-up oil etc.