Tips for Effective Vehicle & Fleet Maintenance
Fleet maintenance is a crucial part of running a successful business. It’s imperative that your vehicles are dependable and can contribute to helping your business become more profitable. It's important to implement a vehicle repair and service plan, regardless of the number of vehicles you have.
From preferred vendor and vehicle maintenance expert, TBC Corp, here are a few recommendations and tips for creating a vehicle maintenance plan:
Preventive Maintenance
Waiting until a fleet vehicle breaks down to perform maintenance can lead to scheduling challenges, as well as incurring unexpected repair costs. Take a proactive approach, and schedule preventive maintenance. At these appointments, your vehicle maintenance professional can identify and make recommendations to eliminate wear and tear that could lead to future breakdowns. Preventive maintenance items include but are not limited to:
- Rotating and balancing tires
- Alignment checked
- Check your oil and get it changed regularly
- Free inspection
- Check your fluids
- Air and cabin air filters checked
Designate a Vehicle Repair “Captain”
Regardless of the size of your fleet, designating a “captain” to help manage your vehicle maintenance will benefit the entire business. This individual will be the primary contact to answer any questions, while also keeping every vehicle aligned with the manufacturer's recommended schedule. Finally, this will help bring consistency to your preventive maintenance services.
Utilize Technology
Managing maintenance requires data. Mileage, reports on what maintenance has been performed, and budgetary reports all need to be collected. Technology makes this task easier, turning piles of paperwork into digital files that are easily managed and saved. This could be as simple as having an excel file supporting all the necessary information.
Identify a “One Stop Shop”
We recommend you identify a “one stop shop” for all your vehicle repair needs. This can be defined by your vehicle repair provider being able to perform preventive maintenance, mechanical services, and tire repairs on your respective fleet of vehicles. Eliminating your vehicles going to three or four vehicle repair providers will bring both time and cost efficiency to your business.