Fleet maintenance: An essential guide

If you manage commercial vehicles whether for a small business, a company with a large fleet, or for a government fleet, fleet maintenance is a big part of your job. Regular maintenance ensures that each vehicle in the fleet operates with optimum efficiency, safety, and reliability. The benefits to your business of regular maintenance include:

• Cost efficiency
• Safety and compliance
• Operational reliability
• Resale value
• Environmental impact

What does it mean to maintain a fleet and why is it important?

Fleet maintenance refers to the systematic practice of keeping a group of vehicles in optimal condition through regular inspections, repairs, and preventative measures. This practice is essential for ensuring the safety, reliability, and longevity of the vehicles within your fleet. The scope of fleet maintenance encompasses several key areas:

• Inspections and monitoring: You’ll want to conduct regular inspections of your commercial vehicles including keeping an eye on vital components like brakes, engines, electrical systems, and tires. Monitoring involves tracking the performance and condition of each vehicle over time.
• Preventive maintenance involves servicing vehicles on a regular schedule to prevent potential problems before they occur. This includes:
  • Oil changes
  • Tire rotations
  • Fluid checks
  • and filter replacements
• Repairs and corrective actions: When issues with one of your company vehicles are identified, prompt repair and corrective actions should be taken to resolve them. This includes everything from minor fixes to major overhauls, depending on the severity of the problem.
• Record-keeping and documentation: Maintaining accurate and detailed records of all maintenance activities will help in tracking the maintenance history of each vehicle and planning future maintenance needs.
• Compliance with regulations: Vehicular laws and regulations can vary depending on the region and the type of vehicle. Compliance includes ensuring vehicles meet environmental, safety, and operational standards.
• Cost management: Balancing the need for vehicle upkeep with budgetary constraints is essential to achieve cost-effective operations without compromising on vehicle performance or safety.

Take a comprehensive approach to managing vehicular health and performance for your small business. This includes a range of activities from routine servicing to complex repairs, all aimed at ensuring that each vehicle is safe, efficient, and reliable.

Technology used to maintain your commercial vehicle fleet

Technology’s role has become increasingly significant, revolutionizing how small business commercial vehicles are best managed and maintained. A range of existing tools enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness of maintenance operations. Key technology-based tools include:

• Telematics and vehicle monitoring systems which provide real-time data on vehicle location, condition, and performance. This allows you to monitor critical vehicle parameters like engine performance, fuel usage, and tire pressure, allowing for timely interventions and better maintenance planning.
• Maintenance management software systems which streamline the scheduling, tracking, and documenting of maintenance activities. They help you organize maintenance tasks for your cars, vans, and trucks, keep detailed records, and ensure compliance with maintenance schedules and regulatory requirements.
• Electric vehicle (EV) maintenance technologies: As fleets increasingly include electric vehicles, specialized technologies for monitoring and maintaining EVs become important. This includes software for managing battery health, electric motor efficiency, and charging infrastructure.
• Environmental impact monitoring which includes tracking emissions, fuel efficiency, and adherence to environmental regulations.

Technology enhances the ability to monitor, analyze, and respond to vehicle maintenance needs, leading to improved vehicle performance, reduced costs, and increased operational efficiency for your small business.

Benefits of regular fleet maintenance for your business

For businesses that operate a fleet of commercial vehicles, regular fleet maintenance can be a game-changer. The benefits extend beyond simply keeping vehicles running; they impact the entire business operation.

• Cost savings and financial efficiency: Regular maintenance can prevent major breakdowns that are often costly to repair. By catching issues early, businesses can avoid large, unexpected expenses that can be especially burdensome for smaller budgets. This preventive approach also helps in budgeting and financial planning, as maintenance costs become more predictable and manageable.
• Extended vehicle lifespan: Consistent maintenance extends the service life of vehicles. For businesses, this means getting the most value out of every vehicle investment. A well-maintained vehicle can perform effectively for many years, delaying the need for expensive replacements or upgrades.
• Improved fuel efficiency: Regularly serviced vehicles typically demonstrate better fuel efficiency. For businesses with vehicles, fuel costs constitute a significant portion of operational expenses. Efficient fuel use can lead to substantial savings, improving the overall bottom line.
• Enhanced reliability and service quality: Well-maintained vehicles are more reliable, reducing the likelihood of vehicles breaking down and causing service interruptions. This reliability is crucial for maintaining a business’s reputation and ensuring customer satisfaction, especially when timely deliveries or services are a key part of the business model.
• Safety compliance: Regular maintenance ensures that vehicles are safe for use, which is crucial for protecting drivers and the public. This adherence to safety standards also protects the business from legal issues and enhances credibility.
• Resale value: If a business decides to sell its vehicles, well-maintained ones generally command a higher resale value. This aspect is particularly beneficial for businesses looking to update or change their vehicles.
• Positive environmental impact: Regular maintenance also ensures vehicles are running efficiently, which can lead to lower emissions.

Regular vehicle maintenance for your business is not just about vehicle upkeep; it’s a strategic business practice that affects financial stability, operational reliability, and business reputation. By investing in regular maintenance, your organization can ensure that your fleet remains a reliable asset supporting your business goals.

Driver involvement is recommended

The best vehicle efficiency strategies are typically the simplest, focusing on core operating costs like fuel and maintenance. Improving the efficiency of your company’s vehicles and cutting costs is important, and who better to keep track of any vehicle inefficiencies than the drivers themselves. Your operations will run more smoothly with your drivers more engaged in commercial vehicle maintenance.

With drivers acting as a watchful eye on vehicle performance, you can get additional information about how the vehicle is running and plan timely repairs accordingly. Educating drivers about how their driving impacts repairs can also help to minimize less efficient practices behind the wheel.

Drivers can keep an eye out for early warning signs

One easy way drivers can take a more proactive role in ensuring timely maintenance is by reporting on vehicles in need of repair. By encouraging drivers to report instances of noisy brakes, reduced gas mileage, noticeable pulling to the left or right, weak acceleration and other abrupt changes in the fleet vehicle’s performance, you get up-to-the-minute information about the repair status of every van, car, or truck on the road. By comparing these notes with that of your mechanic, you can get a better idea of when to send your vehicles back into the shop for repair. This strategy is even more effective when your drivers are educated on the signs that identify the need for a tune-up or replacement part.

Encourage good communication between mechanics and drivers

Timely preventive maintenance can reduce your company’s overall maintenance bill. By catching problems like old oil or worn brake pads early-on, inexpensive repairs can be made in lieu of more expensive maintenance that would occur down the road if problems are left untreated. Encouraging communication between drivers and the mechanics that service your vehicles is a great way to make the repair process even more comprehensive. Drivers can supply mechanics with vital contextual and performance-related information, while service professionals can give drivers tips on how to minimize damage to parts when operating their vehicle.

Maintenance plans, along with communication efforts between drivers and mechanics, are aided by fleet telematics. The combination of a driver’s first-hand account and vehicle performance data delivered by a telematics system gives you insight into a vehicle’s behavior. This information can then be used to help drivers more efficiently operate their vehicles. Telematics tools have plenty of other cost-savings benefits as well, from GPS-assisted route analysis to potential rate discounts from insurance companies. Increasing the efficiency of your commercial vehicles with telematics allows your small business to keep your maintenance schedule consistent while simultaneously learning more about the performance of each driver.

Overcoming common challenges in commercial vehicle maintenance

Commercial vehicle maintenance can be fraught with challenges. Here are some common challenges and strategies to overcome each challenge:

• Budget constraints: One of the biggest challenges is operating within a tight budget. To overcome this, prioritize maintenance activities that have the most significant impact on safety and reliability. Using a preventive maintenance approach can also help avoid more costly repairs down the line. 
• Managing maintenance schedules: Keeping maintenance schedules for your commercial vehicles is simplified when using fleet management software. Technology can help automate and streamline the process, ensuring maintenance is performed at optimal intervals.
• Technological advancements: Keeping up with rapid vehicular technological advancements can be challenging. Stay connected with industry updates and ensure you are working with a mechanic who is on top of advances in vehicle technology.
• Handling unexpected maintenance issues: Despite the best planning, unexpected maintenance issues can arise. To mitigate this, it’s important to have a well-organized response plan that includes a readily available mechanic and trusted service providers. Access to emergency funds allocated for such situations can also be helpful.
• Driver training and vehicle abuse: Inappropriate use of vehicles can lead to increased wear and tear. Keeping your drivers aware of the importance of vehicle care and proper driving habits can reduce unnecessary maintenance costs.
• Balancing in-house and outsourced maintenance: Deciding what maintenance tasks to keep in-house and what to outsource is a common challenge for small business owners. Analyzing the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of doing the work yourself versus outsourcing maintenance can help you make more informed decisions.
• Adopting EVs and hybrid vehicles into your maintenance plan: As you start incorporating electric and hybrid vehicles, adapting maintenance practices to these new technologies will be important. Investing in specialized training and equipment for these types of vehicles will play a role in the adoption process.

By proactively addressing these challenges, you can ensure smoother operations, reduce downtime, and maintain the longevity and efficiency of your commercial vehicles.

Make fleet maintenance central to your operations

Commercial vehicle maintenance is a fundamental aspect of running your business that directly influences operational efficiency, cost-effectiveness, safety, and longevity of your vans, cars, and trucks. Through this article, we’ve highlighted the various benefits and best practices, underscoring the need for a proactive approach to maintenance for businesses.

The benefits of regular fleet maintenance include:

• Cost savings and budget efficiency: Preventing major breakdowns and extending the lifespan of vehicles, which translates into significant financial savings.
• Enhanced safety and compliance: Ensuring vehicles meet safety standards and regulatory requirements, thus safeguarding operators and the public.
• Operational reliability: Reducing downtime and improving the reliability of service, which is essential for maintaining customer satisfaction and business reputation.
• Environmental responsibility: Promoting eco-friendly operations through efficient fuel use and reduced emissions.
• Optimized resale value: Maintaining the fleet in good condition to maximize the resale value of vehicles.

An emphasis on proactive maintenance strategies cannot be overemphasized. Commercial vehicle maintenance plays a pivotal role in your overall business strategy. It goes beyond just keeping vehicles running; it encompasses a comprehensive approach to managing the health, efficiency, and compliance of your cars, vans, and trucks. As we move into the future, the role of technology in fleet maintenance will continue to expand, bringing new opportunities for efficiency and innovation.

Regular commercial vehicle maintenance is not just a responsibility; it’s a strategic advantage. By adopting a proactive and informed approach to maintenance, you can ensure your business is not only operational but also competitive and prepared for the challenges to come.

WEX is a global commerce platform that simplifies the business of running a business. WEX has created a powerful ecosystem that offers seamlessly embedded, personalized solutions for its customers around the world. Through its rich data and specialized expertise in simplifying benefits, reimagining mobility, and paying and getting paid, WEX aims to make it easy for companies to overcome complexity and reach their full potential. To learn more, please visit the company’s About WEX page.

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Editorial note: This article was originally published on June 1, 2015, and has been updated for this publication.