A Compact Guide To Effective Fleet Maintenance Management
Giancarlo Perlas November 10, 2022
What’s a fleet? Businesses have many assets, one of them being vehicles. Depending on your operations, you might have several vehicles, like trucks, to deliver goods to your customers or distributors. If you have several company vehicles, like Mercedes-Benz trucks or cars, they’re referred to as a fleet.
Managing a fleet of vehicles is quite different from managing one or two. As a business owner, how do you maintain your fleet? Has it proven challenging at times? The secret lies in management.
This article gives a guide on effective fleet maintenance management. Read on!
Partner With An Auto Repair Shop
Your fleet would require maintenance and repairs by an auto repair shop. And, since these have to be done on a regular basis, working with just one service provider is advisable. Doing so eliminates the hassle of going to a different mechanic each time your fleet develops issues.
The adage, ‘too many cooks spoil the broth,’ greatly applies here. Some mechanics might address the surface issues, ignoring any underlying ones. Others will use substandard spare parts, negatively impacting the lifespan of your vehicles.
However, by relying on just one reliable auto repair shop, like Cargo Fleet, they’ll have a deeper understanding of your vehicles, helping them address issues accordingly. It also brings about accountability. If there’s an issue recurrence, you know who to probe. Ultimately, it increases the quality of services you get from the auto repair shop.
Work With Qualified Drivers
You might’ve done the necessary repairs and religiously maintained your vehicles as a business owner. However, did you know your drivers are the end determiner of your fleet’s performance?
Keeping a vehicle in good condition heavily relies on how it’s driven. If your drivers don’t follow the right gear-shifting steps, your gear system will develop issues. If they suddenly brake, expect your tires to wear out quickly, among other issues.
Therefore, you want to work with qualified drivers for your fleet. Besides basic driving skills, they should know the best practices to keep your fleet in good shape. It’d help to train them regularly on driving tips. You should also do the same if you purchase new vehicles, especially if they’re technologically advanced.
Create An Inspection Checklist
Vehicles need servicing, which is a practice you should also adopt. You can follow your car manufacturer’s guide on the intervals, often based on mileage coverage. In between servicing, your fleet could develop issues that impact your productivity; therefore, you ought to be proactive.
Being proactive means practicing preventive maintenance for your fleet. For one, your drivers should inspect their vehicles before driving each day. Doing so will help identify issues early on and keep drivers safe on the road. Consider creating a checklist of the things they should inspect daily. It should include the parts that your vehicle relies on to run, such as the oil, engine, gear, tires, and brakes, among others. Moreover, have them prepare reports on their inspections.
Develop Policies And Procedures
Policies and procedures play an important role in any business. They govern how workers should behave as they fulfill their responsibilities.
In this case, you want to develop policies and procedures in fleet handling. They should guide your drivers on what to do in certain situations, such as when a vehicle issue arises and who to inform of such. In case of an accident, what should they do when dealing with authorities and insurance providers?
Once you develop these guidelines, it’s best to inform the drivers of these policies and give them copies of the same for reference. Your top management should also know about these procedures.
When everyone knows what to do in any situation or setback, your operations will flow smoothly, ensuring efficiency.
Go Paperless
Manually handling operations is one of the consequences of company inefficiencies. Therefore, it’s best to eliminate paperwork in your fleet maintenance system.
It’d help to invest in fleet management software to assist you in going paperless. Some of the activities that shouldn’t involve paperwork are maintenance schedules and reports. With a digital maintenance schedule, no driver will claim they didn’t know their vehicle was due for maintenance.
Ensure the scheduling system alerts drivers on their upcoming maintenance a few days before the due date. This way, they’ll have time to prepare the proper documentation and the like, depending on your policies and procedures.
As you go paperless, ensure all stakeholders have access to the software and any other digital system you adopt. This way, everyone will know what’s expected of them, ensuring smooth business operations.
Conclusion
When investing in a fleet, you expect it to serve you for many years. It’s the only way you’ll get value for your money. However, you also have a role to play to ensure it serves you efficiently, and it’s to maintain your fleet as you use it to meet your needs.
The discussion above shows how to effectively manage your fleet’s maintenance needs. Adopting this guide in your operations would surely benefit your company, and your team will thank you for it.
