To ensure optimum vehicle reliability, passenger safety, and longevity, you need to make maintenance an essential part of your service operations. Preventive truck maintenance covers aspects such as vehicle inspections, scheduled servicing and repairs; all these things help maximize vehicle availability. When these processes are followed with regularity, they are proven to help reduce truck breakdowns.
Yet despite being aware of all these advantages, fleet managers often avoid regular preventive maintenance. Some feel they are just squandering their tight budgets; others treat it as nothing more than an afterthought and don’t attend to it until it’s too late. Proper maintenance at a reliable and reputed truck center is essential to maximize the productivity of your fleet.
For a business that relies on truck fleets, the total number of reliable vehicles available is directly proportional with the amount of revenue generated. When you look at the bigger picture you will find that the price of regular truck maintenance is negligible when compared to the cost of large-scale truck repair that could have been easily preventable in the first place. Here are some more reasons why you should make heavy duty truck maintenance your priority:
1. Get the best out of replacement cycles
In order to make capital savings in the short term, fleet managers often attempt to extend the replacement cycles. However, numerous studies indicate that extending the truck replacement cycle results in:
- Significantly higher expenses in the long-term
- Reduced resale values
- Reduction in worker productivity
- Higher operating costs.
Incorporating regular heavy truck maintenance into your fleet operations eliminates this unnecessary cost and the possible impact of loss of productivity due to vehicle downtime.
2. Get rid of nonessential downtime
The cost of downtime is often overlooked; but this can cost your business thousands of dollars per vehicle, each hour. Some of these costs are:
- Penalties
- Loss of revenue
- Cost of temporary rentals
- Other
Without regular scheduled preventive maintenance, you will find yourself dealing with constant downtime.
3. Reduces the cost of ownership
Studies have indicated the largest component of cost of ownership is the depreciation of assets. However, expenses like the cost of acquisition and fuel can easily overstep the cost of depreciation. You can reduce the cost of ownership by getting regular maintenance done and channeling a little more of your budget towards truck maintenance. This is important because:
- By performing regular maintenance at a good truck center, many potentially detrimental problems can be identified early and trailer repair can be avoided.
- When you keep your heavy vehicles performing in top condition, that also helps reduce fuel costs.
- A regularly maintained vehicle will operate far more efficiently and stays in service for a longer period of time.
- It will also help keep your trucks out of the garage and on the road.
4. Improve safety levels
Each year, literally thousands of accidents take place because of fleets avoiding regular, basic truck maintenance. More often than not, accidents occur due to uneven tire treads, worn brake systems, broken lights and more. Training of truck drivers alone cannot improve the safety of your fleet. You also need to ensure your vehicles deliver top performance; this goes a long way in reducing the occurrence of accidents.