Top 5 Best Practices for Preventive Fleet Maintenance

Maintaining a fleet of trucks is a challenging feat; the last thing you want is to get stuck in a cycle of reactive maintenance. Waiting for something to go wrong and only scheduling repairs is the most costly method of fleet maintenance and can result in unexpected downtime, higher maintenance charges, and unreliable scheduling. 

Preventive fleet maintenance keeps your business running smoothly and saves time and money. Learn about five best practices for fleet preventive maintenance and discover how mobile fleet maintenance can keep you ahead of the curve. 

The Importance of Preventive Maintenance

Fleet preventive maintenance not only helps to smooth out your daily operations and help you anticipate maintenance costs but also paves the way for a safer, more reliable fleet. Breakdowns and unforeseen truck issues arise more frequently without a strategic preventive maintenance strategy. To protect the safety of all employees and the public and to reduce costs and downtime, follow five basic best practices for fleet preventive maintenance. 

Best Practices

1. Take inventory 

To get started with a reliable preventive maintenance routine, you first need to take inventory of your current fleet. Whether you use a spreadsheet, a clipboard, or specialized software, you need one central place where you can easily reference the year, make, model, and service history for each of your existing assets. 

2. Develop a schedule 

Once you've created a record of all assets in your fleet, you can develop a schedule for completing preventive maintenance. This schedule may be based on the following:

• Hours in use since the last service
• Odometer readings
• Months since the last service 

Regardless of how you choose to set your schedule, creating a reliable and predictable timetable for fleet preventive maintenance will help alleviate repair needs and reduce the chances of breakdowns and dangerous mechanical failures. Use automated reminders to stay on top of scheduling preventive maintenance and never fall behind. 

3. Create a checklist

The checklist of maintenance items for each asset in your fleet should be based in part on manufacturer manuals and suggested upkeep specific to the vehicle's make, year, and model. However, a few essential maintenance items that belong on any fleet preventive maintenance checklist include:

• Oil and filter changes
• Tire rotations
• Transmission fluid inspection
• Windshield wiper and fluid check
• Suspension and steering systems inspection
• Fuel, fluid, and cooling systems checks
• Exterior and glass examination

Working with a trustworthy and reliable maintenance team like Torque will help ensure that each step necessary for preventive maintenance is thoroughly addressed. 

4. Keep a record 

On top of scheduling services in advance, keep an accurate log of all services performed. Each time a maintenance team services a truck, record any concerns or findings. Keeping an accurate record of services and usage over time can help you predict future costs and better plan for maintenance expenses. Analyzing this data on an ongoing basis can help streamline budgets and inform you about what to expect from your fleet. Stay on schedule and ahead of needed repairs with thoughtful recording. 

5. Streamline processes

When business gets busy, staff hours run low, and budgets feel tight, it may feel tempting to forgo preventive maintenance and hope for the best. When processes aren't air-tight, this trap is all too easy to fall into. However, the more streamlined you can make your routine maintenance processes, the easier it will be to stick to your preventive maintenance schedule.

On top of automated reminders and go-to fleet preventive maintenance checklists, another strategy for smoother preventive maintenance is to utilize mobile fleet maintenance. With this option, you can let trained technicians come to you at your lot during downtime instead of scheduling extra stops and time on the clock to wait for routine maintenance to be completed. This easy step to streamline the maintenance process makes it simpler to set it and forget it, resulting in more consistent service and a safer fleet.

Mobile Fleet Maintenance

Schedule preventive fleet maintenance right on location with mobile truck maintenance. Traditional fleet maintenance demands careful route planning to stop at the shop without adding even more mileage and time than necessary. Even the best-planned routes will result in some degree of wasted fuel, and drivers are forced to wait on company time while technicians service the truck. 

On the other hand, mobile truck maintenance allows for simple planning that extends uptime and eliminates the need for employee hours. With Torque, you can easily schedule reliable services with trusted technicians at your convenience. With no contract required and simple online payments for each service, there's no extra paperwork to weigh you down. Get started today!

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