How to Maintain a Fleet of Commercial Vehicles

How to Maintain a Fleet of Commercial Vehicles

Tips and Tools for a Business Fleet

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Managing a fleet of business vehicles is tough work. Maintaining and repairing several vehicles on your own is difficult and time-consuming, and you’ll typically want to establish some kind of process to ensure that your vehicles are maintained on a regular basis and kept in good condition for when they need to be used. Proper maintenance will extend the lifetime of your vehicles and reduce the likelihood that they’ll fail when you need them the most.

So here are a couple of tips on how to maintain a fleet of business vehicles.

Maintain your vehicles on a regular basis

Dedicate time every week to maintaining your business vehicles. You should also have some kind of process to maintain them, such as an order of priorities to check. Once you gain enough experience and have some knowledge of vehicle maintenance, you can split your duties into weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly tasks. For example, oil changes don’t need to happen as often as checking the tires and cleaning the vehicle.

Ensure drivers are trained and educated

All drivers that work for you should be properly trained and educated in how to drive their respective vehicles. This will depend on if you’re hiring drivers that already possess the qualifications and experience to operate those vehicles.

If you’re not, then you’ll need to have a comprehensive training program in order to educate them on the proper practices. If your drivers are knowledgeable and have experience driving then you’re far less likely to encounter fleet vehicle problems. They’ll also be more diligent in keeping their vehicles in good condition.

Inspect each vehicle before it departs

Pre-trip inspections are important in your commercial fleet maintenance routine because it reduces the chances of a vehicle failing or experiencing a problem once it leaves your premises. You should have a simplified list of tasks here that all of your drivers can refer to and follow. This can include checking that the lights and brakes work, checking on the tire pressure levels, and also inspecting critical components.

If an issue is found, it’s best to deal with it immediately so as not to slow down your business processes.

Compile reports for each vehicle

It’s a good idea to have reports on each vehicle. Make sure you’re writing down everything noteworthy during your inspections. Make good use of telematics and fleet management software to monitor their performance as well, and use the technology to gain real-time insights and data on how the vehicles are being used. This will give you a better understanding of how each driver is using their respective vehicles, and it’ll also help you detect problems from an early stage so that they can be fixed.

Compiling reports will also help you keep a detailed record of maintenance logs. This keeps track of every repair, replacement, or service that each of your vehicles receives. This will help you stay more organized with your vehicles and also give you valuable information in the event you want to sell or replace them.