The Importance of Fleet Maintenance
For fleet managers, ensuring that timely and diligent fleet maintenance is scheduled and carried out is extremely important for the future of your business, as well as the health and safety of your staff.
In this article, we will be looking at the reasons why fleet maintenance is so important for fleet managers. We will also explain why great business owners never skip out on servicing their vehicles so that you can better understand your competition and what your company needs to do in order to excel.
What is Fleet Maintenance?
Fleet maintenance encompasses a lot of different tasks under one focus; improving the longevity of your fleet. Good fleet maintenance might include tire pressure checking, repairs, and the use of fuel management systems to monitor the fleet’s overall health and schedule timely checks.
There are two types of maintenance that you will need to organise your fleet around:
- Preventative Maintenance
This kind is used for keeping your vehicles in top condition, thereby reducing the likelihood of necessary repairs and saving money and time in the long run. It’s termed preventative maintenance because it prevents against emergency expenditures which can have bad effects on your business’ reputation and insurance costs.
- Immediate Maintenance
This is undertaken when a problem is experienced with one of the vehicles. This is an immediate response to a problem that needs fixing before the vehicle can return to its usual work.
Close observation of your vehicles and how they are being used can help you to undertake targeted preventative maintenance, which will, in turn, reduce your immediate maintenance costs. This means that you should seriously consider using the following checklist:
- Engine oil and filter changes
- Transmission fluid
- Cooling system
- Engine and transmission mounts
- Belts and hoses
- Tune-ups
- Electrical system components
- Braking system
- Steering and suspension system
- Tires, wheels, and rims
- Exhaust system
- Undercarriage and frame
- Exterior lights
- Body, glass, and mirrors
- Windshield wiper system
- Fluid leaks
- Auxiliary systems
You should also consider the safety of the interior:
- Horn
- Seatbelts and seat structures
- Interior lights
- First aid kit
- Vehicle handbook
- Torch
It may also be prudent to test the function of the following:
- Horn
- Interior and exterior lights
- Warning lights
- Brakes
- Wiper system
- Fuel supplies
This checklist should be signed and dated by the relevant driver and offices should keep an electronic record of the results.
Extend Your Fleet’s Lifespan
You can extend your vehicles’ lifespans with careful monitoring. This will include frequent simple check-ups and occasional tire pressure checks, but how and where your vehicles are used is also important. You should aim to ensure that all of the vehicles in your fleet record similar levels of distance and fuel consumption or, in other words, ensuring that all your vehicles undertake similar levels of pressure and usage. Getting the most out of your fleet also means that you increase your equipment’s ROI, making your fleet a better investment.
Tracking your vehicle’s health also means that issues which could develop into big problems will be dealt with before they end up costing your company for an emergency breakdown repair, or worse – cause an accident.
Reduce Operating Costs and Insurance
If you engage in regular servicing and maintenance, then it serves that you should be less likely to have accidents and, subsequently, less of a claims history. Understandably, this will look great to future insurers, so it’s in your best interests to be able to boast about regular maintenance checks.
Emergency repairs also put your vehicles out of action and reduce your business’ productivity; protecting against these occurrences is in the best interests of making a profit.
Fleet Maintenance and the Law
It is the UK law that every employer managing a fleet must undertake regular servicing as befits their fleet manufacturer’s regulations and common sense. Vehicles should be maintained so that they are ‘mechanically in good condition.’ This may involve implementing a good reporting system for faults and hazards and may also involve training your drivers on how to spot the faults, how regularly to perform checks, and how to report on them.
A great fleet manager should refer to the government’s specifications to ensure that they are following up-to-date rules. (gov.uk)
How a Fuel Management System Can Help
Fuel management systems will help you to find the time to carry out these very important equipment checks. A fuel management system will make checking your fuel reserves as quick as pushing a button – literally; our system comes with computer software that is linked to your fuel reserves and can tell you from the office how much you have left and when you will need to order more.
In the time that you save making inventory checks, you could be ensuring the safety of your equipment. A fuel management system will also help you to record how frequently your vehicles are on the road so you can be sure to even out their use.
Our fuel management systems also protect against fuel theft, which is also in the interests of maximising your business’ profits and ensuring the safety of your staff. Contact us soon about how we can help you by installing our services on your premises.
SOURCES:
https://www.verizonconnect.com/resources/article/fleet-maintenance-planning-tips/
http://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/checklist/section4.htm
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vehicle-safety-and-maintenance-guides
https://www.fleetio.com/blog/5-components-of-fleet-preventive-maintenance
https://work.chron.com/objectives-fleet-maintenance-management-26483.html
https://www.teletracnavman.com/telematics-definitions/what-is-fleet-maintenance
