Fleet Maintenance Mistakes You Need to Avoid
28 Dec 2015Fleet business owners have enough concerns in their daily operations than having to worry about their fleet vehicles breaking down. This is why fleet preventative maintenance is essential so you will be able to detect smaller issues before they turn out to be huge problems.
Fleet managers, for the most part, do fairly well in making sure their vehicles run at peak performance. However, when they take a lackadaisical approach to the maintenance of their fleet vehicles, it can cost their business thousands of dollars. Therefore, it’s imperative that fleet managers stay on top of and ensure their business preventative maintenance program is in place and working effectively.
Common Mistakes
Here are three common mistakes fleet managers make with respect to fleet maintenance.
- Not Setting the Standard
Even by putting off preventative maintenance for just a few weeks or days can jeopardize your fleet operation. The costs of this type of maintenance is only a fraction of what the cost of repairs would be for brakes, tires, oil or other critical parts of a fleet vehicle. Plus, each vehicle will require its own type of care and should be handled individually by not taking a form of maintenance that runs by the “one size fits all” approach.
- Not Involving the Drivers
Since your fleet drivers are the ones who are in the vehicles the most, it only makes sense to involve them in the upkeep. Although technicians know the things to look for, they still only have a vehicle in their possession for a few hours. When you involve your drivers, they can make technicians more aware of problems that they might otherwise not have noticed.
- Ignoring the Data
As fleet vehicles are brought in for a maintenance request, data is collected and processed. This can help fleet managers gain essential insight into trends happening across the whole company. Fleet managers can use this data to identify what’s working and what isn’t, and come up with a plan of addressing widespread problems they find in their preventative maintenance program.
How GPS Tracking Can Help your Business Stay Current on Maintenance
Being the owner of a fleet operation, there are a great deal of things you are tackling. Mileage checks and maintenance schedules can sometimes be forgotten during the everyday hustle and bustle of your business. Because of this, a good plan for your business is investing in GPS fleet tracking, which can monitor the hours and mileage on the road and provide maintenance alerts and scheduling.
Some ways the GPS tracking can help with your fleet maintenance include:
- Schedule reminders about upcoming maintenance tasks.
- Track the condition of your fleet vehicles and get proper reporting.
- Be alerted of specific maintenance issues (brakes, belts, oil, etc.).
Fleet maintenance is such a crucial part of your fleet company since it keeps your vehicles in the proper condition. It is especially important that they are working well in the colder winter months. Fortunately, GPS fleet tracking can help you keep your vehicles in good shape so they run efficiently all year long.
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