As the year draws to a close and the holiday season approaches, there’s a festive spirit in the air, and everyone, even fleet drivers and managers are preparing for some well-deserved time off.
Whether delivering packages, transporting goods, or ensuring essential services, fleet vehicles play a crucial role during the festive period. Amid the hustle and bustle, the significance of proactive fleet vehicle maintenance cannot be overstated. In this article, we delve into why prioritising maintenance before the year-end break is essential for fleet managers, drivers, and the overall success of business operations.
From the benefits of a well-maintained vehicle to practical tips on what to check and how to prepare, join us in understanding why a little attention to your vehicle now can make all the difference in ensuring a safe and stress-free holiday break.
What is fleet maintenance?
Fleet maintenance refers to the process of ensuring that every vehicle within the organisation is properly cared for and in good working order. As one of your fleet’s top investments, it’s important that each individual vehicle is safe, reliable and can stay on the road for the optimum amount of time. Put simply, vehicle maintenance is integral to managing a productive business, and without such an approach you put your business – and all associated assets – at risk.
Why is it important?
The importance of fleet vehicle maintenance lies in its fundamental role in preserving the condition and functionality of a business’ vehicles. It is a proactive and strategic approach to ensuring that each vehicle within the fleet remains operational and reliable.
Fleet vehicle maintenance goes beyond addressing immediate issues; it is a systematic and ongoing effort to prevent breakdowns, reduce downtime, and extend the overall lifespan of the vehicles.
This practice underscores the commitment to safety, efficiency, and the seamless functioning of the fleet, emphasising the significance of regular inspections, timely repairs, and adherence to manufacturer recommendations.
Ultimately, fleet vehicle maintenance is integral to the core operations of a business, contributing to the sustained performance and dependability of the entire fleet.
So, what does fleet maintenance entail?
Fleet maintenance management should factor in two key areas – a proactive and reactive approach:
A. Proactive: Preventative maintenance needs
By regularly checking the condition of business vehicles, the likelihood of ad-hoc repairs or breakdowns can be reduced. This helps to minimise the need for emergency expenditures, which can become costly. Preventative maintenance can be conducted annually or according to vehicle kilometres travelled – whichever best serves a business’ purposes while keeping vehicles in good condition.
Preventative maintenance requires you to:
- Build a maintenance checklist•
- Assess baselines
- Establish a maintenance schedule
1. Build a maintenance checklist
Creating a maintenance checklist is essential due to the unique nature of each vehicle, even if they share the same model. Common features to check include the frame, body condition, suspension, mirrors, lights, windshield integrity, functionality of doors and windows, oil levels, gear oil, brake oil, coolants, windshield wipers, brake smoothness, oil filter, tyre pressure, fuel system, rust, transmission, belts, seatbelts, seating, and the internal heating and air-conditioner. Ensuring these components are in optimal condition forms the basis for building a comprehensive fleet management checklist, emphasising the ideal approach to ensure effective planning.
2. Assess baselines
After completing the maintenance checklist, the next step is to assess baselines by ensuring vehicle data is integrated into a database linked to fleet management software to ensure optimal efficiency. Before implementing the fleet management system, a thorough evaluation of all vehicles is necessary, involving a trip to the garage for a full diagnosis and test drive. Implementing the checklist parameters across the entire fleet is crucial, and if any vehicle fails to meet these criteria, prompt rectification is essential before readiness for fleet management.
Subsequently, digitising all documentation is vital, followed by uploading these documents to the fleet management software. These digital records encompass comprehensive vehicle details, including servicing history, required maintenance, and indications of whether a vehicle needs servicing or replacement.
3. Establish a maintenance schedule
To further enhance fleet management, the next step is to establish a maintenance schedule, signifying the actual planning phase where parameters for vehicles and drivers are set. This involves building and implementing a policy that aids the team in adapting to the established processes. In your fleet management policy, considers key factors such as safety, incidents on rough terrains, high-speed scenarios, incident reporting, overall efficiency, idling time reduction, preventive maintenance practices, and compliance with regulations.
B. Reactive: Immediate/emergency maintenance needs
This helps to take care of problems as they arise. Having a plan to take care of immediate needs allows for necessary fixing to be done as needed so that the usual flow of work can be resumed within a short period of time. Having regular preventative maintenance can help reduce the frequency of emergency maintenance and save money over the long term.
The benefits of fleet maintenance
Fleet maintenance offers a multitude of benefits for businesses relying on a fleet of vehicles for their operations.
Here are some key advantages:
- Reduced Downtime: Regular maintenance helps identify and address potential issues before they escalate into major problems, minimising unexpected breakdowns and reducing downtime. This ensures that vehicles remain operational and available when needed.
- Extended Vehicle Lifespan: Proper maintenance extends the lifespan of fleet vehicles. Regular inspections, oil changes, and component replacements contribute to the longevity of the vehicles, allowing businesses to maximise their return on investment.
- Enhanced Safety: Well-maintained vehicles contribute to safer driving conditions. Functional brakes, properly inflated tyres, and responsive steering systems reduce the risk of accidents, promoting the safety of both drivers and other road users.
- Improved Fuel Efficiency: Regular maintenance, including tuning engines and addressing issues affecting fuel systems, enhances fuel efficiency. Fuel-efficient vehicles not only reduce operational costs, but also contribute to a smaller carbon footprint, aligning with environmental sustainability goals.
- Cost Savings: While preventive maintenance incurs some costs, it is often more cost-effective than dealing with major repairs or replacements resulting from neglected issues. The proactive approach of fleet maintenance helps businesses avoid expensive emergency repairs and replacements.
- Compliance with Regulations: Adhering to regulatory standards is critical for businesses operating fleets. Regular maintenance ensures that vehicles comply with safety and environmental regulations, reducing the risk of fines and penalties and maintaining the company’s reputation.
- Optimised Performance: Vehicles that undergo regular maintenance perform at their best. Properly functioning engines, transmissions, and other components contribute to optimal vehicle performance, supporting the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations.
- Enhanced Resale Value: Well-maintained vehicles maintain higher resale values. When businesses decide to upgrade or replace their fleet, having well-cared-for vehicles can result in better returns, helping offset the costs of acquiring new vehicles.
- Increased Driver Satisfaction: Vehicles that are reliable and well-maintained contribute to driver satisfaction. Drivers are more likely to feel confident and comfortable operating vehicles that undergo regular maintenance, which can positively impact their overall job satisfaction and performance.
- Improved Customer Satisfaction: Reliability is crucial for businesses providing delivery or transportation services. Well-maintained fleets are more likely to meet delivery schedules and customer expectations, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The benefits of fleet maintenance software
Central to a successful fleet maintenance programme is having a system in place that can effectively manage them and this is where technology plays its part.
Fleet maintenance software supports managers by ensuring that maintenance schedules are completed within timescales, enabling adjustments to be made to schedules to meet changing requirements and provide automated notifications to drivers, shop supervisors and technicians, which becomes even more important during the holiday season as most maintenance staff are on holiday.
To learn more about anything we’ve mentioned above, call us on 0860 12 24 36 or email sales@netstar.co.za
