DUBLIN and BOSTON — Fleetmatics Group PLC, a leading global provider of fleet management solutions, announced the results of a KRC Research survey that uncovered how many Americans call for home repairs during the holiday season, and their experiences with residential service providers including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical.

According to the survey results, over 44 percent of Americans, or 50 million households, have called for home repairs on heating, plumbing, electrical, or other home service during the holiday season, which is defined as Thanksgiving Day to New Year’s Day. Of the repair calls being made, 30 percent were for heating, 27 percent for plumbing, and 18 percent for electrical-related issues.

Additionally, the survey found that 68 percent of Americans think the holidays are the most difficult time of the year to find quality service providers for their home, and nearly one in three reported having a bad experience requesting service during the holidays. The top reasons cited for a bad experience were the inability to find someone for last minute appointments, workers arriving late, slow completion of work, and incomplete work.

“While home repairs are the last thing on people’s minds during the holiday season, it is clear that unexpected issues arise,” said Kathleen Finato, Fleetmatics chief marketing officer. “Our service-based customers are working very hard to save the holiday season for tens of thousands of Americans, and there is clearly a high demand for their services during this time of year.”  

To better understand fleet activity during the holiday season, Fleetmatics examined historical data from close to 140,000 service vehicles across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, and pest control in the United States. Fleetmatics identified, on average, how far each service vehicle travels and how many stops it makes during the six week period between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day. For example, an electrical worker travels an estimated 5,976 miles — the near equivalent of traveling from Boston to Los Angeles and back — and makes an average of 329 stops.

To view an infographic that includes more details from the survey and fleet activity during the holiday season, click here.

For more information about Fleetmatics, visit www.fleetmatics.com.

Publication date: 12/18/2015

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