Fleet Maintenance
When it comes to keeping your fleet running, the saying “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” couldn’t be more accurate. There are two common ways fleet maintenance work, scheduled and unscheduled.
The scheduled maintenance method offers the least expenses and headaches because it allows you to fix minor maintenance problems to keep your fleet running before they become big problems. It detects and prevents issues before they become severe and more expensive to fix. But the unscheduled method is much more costly.
However, to be in charge of keeping your fleet running, this article has provided tips that will help you be in charge of the game.
Preventative Maintenance is Crucial:
This is one of the crucial things you should know to help keep your fleet running. Do not wait until your fleet vehicle breaks down before you perform maintenance, as this may lead to more expensive solutions and create scheduling nightmares. You must schedule all preventive maintenance for your vehicles. As mentioned in this article’s introduction, scheduled maintenance is more effective, giving you time to fix problems before they cause any losses.
Delegate the Task:
It would help if you decided on who will be in charge. Your fleet can not care for itself, and you should never assume someone else will take care of it. Appoint someone for the responsibility of effective fleet maintenance. It could be the driver, the manager of your business, or even your assistant. This will increase accountability and make tasks easier to accomplish.
Create a Maintenance Checklist:
This is another important thing you should know about keeping your fleet running. For example, California has many amazing fleet services that come with maintenance packages to keep your business running perfectly. Create a checklist for the person you put in charge of the California DMV fleet services‘ vehicle maintenance to ensure no vehicle maintenance is overlooked. We have also created a list to help guide you:
- Look for leaks
- Inspect belts
- Check brake wear
- Check all major functionalities.
- Check all lights
- Check rims, tires, and wheels.
- Check Fluid levels
- Check hose connections
- Check cabin comfort controls.
Use Technology:
To be in charge of keeping your fleet running, you should incorporate the use of technology for your vehicle maintenance. Make use of software to manage your maintenance tasks. The fleet maintenance software programs provide essential data such as low maintenance dates, part replacements, mileage, and every other maintenance that the vehicle needs. The use of technology allows you to stay on top of all maintenance needs and makes scheduling and keeping track of your vehicle maintenance much easier. When you go digital, you might get automatic alerts informing you of needed maintenance for your fleets.
Ask Your Driver:
The driver understands the vehicle best. So it would help if you always spoke to your drivers concerning the maintenance of your fleets. Ask your drivers what they think is needed to keep your fleet running perfectly. And then you should check with the mechanics and maintenance professionals too. You can also ask them to help you create a maintenance checklist that your driver should always run through before getting on the road.
Plan Ahead:
Like most business owners, you will surely visualize your business growing with more drivers, a bigger fleet, and expanding operations when you look to the future. But the question is, are you prepared for growth? When you fail to plan as a business owner, you find it difficult to meet your competitors. It also negatively impacts your business growth. Also, when you fail to plan, it could damage your bottom line. While trying to react to the additional pressure of managing a bigger fleet and workforce, you may be forced to make some decisions in a hurry or spend money out of your budget. But you can easily develop a relationship with a service provider that manages and maintains a larger fleet.
Staying in charge of keeping your fleet running is a real challenge for fleet managers. But with the help of the effective fleet maintenance tips provided above, it gets easier to keep your fleet running. Remain aware of all of your fleet maintenance needs to reduce maintenance costs. Delegate the maintenance task to the pros, leverage the use of technology, and involve your driver in the process because, more often than not, they are more well-informed and knowledgeable than you. Note that taking care of your fleet is crucial to keeping it running.
