We have spent a lot of time talking about maintenance, and for good reason. Maintenance costs are one of the largest costs fleets have to deal with after fuel and pay. And for fleets who are too busy conducting reactive maintenance, those costs are even higher. Preventative maintenance is key, but how your shop is organized directly influences maintenance.
When you are conducting proactive and predictive maintenance, you are nipping problems in the bud before they occur. And when your shop is getting vehicles repaired before they become a problem, your fleet is healthier as a result.
Utilizing Technology
Logic dictates that a trucking company is only as healthy as its fleet. Fortunately, with the right technologies, it is possible to revamp your fleet and your shop operation. When you utilize the right tools and technologies, you see a far higher ROI on each vehicle you run, greater truck driver satisfaction, increased efficiencies, and better integrations for smoother shop workflows.
Here are just some of the benefits you can expect when you utilize advanced technologies in your shop:
- Greater Operational Efficiency: Expect to work with faster processes and better workflow integrations, which all leads to lower reactive maintenance and greater vehicle reliability.
- Streamlined Processes: When you have streamlined processes, you will also have fewer roadside breakdowns, compliance violations, or out-of-service calls.
- Better Prediction and Prevention: Expect to be able to prevent the breakdowns before they occur, especially if your truck drivers are in unsafe areas.
Did you know that you can use telematics and GPS technologies to remotely monitor and manage your vehicles? Even better, this can be done in real time. Telematics technologies help you track your vehicle’s data, performance, mileage, location, and so much more. And the more you know, the better your shop will run.
Reactive vs. Proactive
Reactive maintenance is what we would call “minimally effective.” In this scenario your shop is fixing vehicles after they have already broken down and relying on truck drivers and operators to track miles. What does this usually lead to? Human error.
This is also a very inefficient and unnecessary way of doing it. Expect your shop to be unable to plan ahead and suffer from needless disruption. You will also likely have a much tougher time servicing vehicles that operate on long trips.
Conversely, proactive maintenance is what we would call “optimally effective.” When you are conducting PM, you ensure vehicles are maintained properly before they break down and you can authorize personnel to remotely track mileage. This way you’ll get real-time insights on how your vehicles and drivers are doing. You’ll also eliminate human error from mileage tracking.
Proactive maintenance also ensures the right people are notified when a vehicle needs servicing. And shop activities can be pre-planned for fewer disruptions. You can also direct long-haul vehicles to the nearest authorized shop if your shop is backed up or if you cannot wait for it to get into the bay for servicing.
It is important to note that proactive maintenance by itself is not the ultimate answer. It also required the right fleet management system as well as fleet management technologies you may not yet be using. But if you do land on the right vendor for your fleet management needs, there is no reason why our shop shouldn’t be utilizing technologically advanced preventative maintenance!
Read the Crystal Ball
You may say that no shop has a crystal ball, but the right technology can help you predict the future. Remember, there is a difference between preventative maintenance and predictive maintenance. Preventative maintenance is important, but you can get even more out of your shop when you are predicting problem before they occur.
If you want to ensure your fleet isn’t crippled by unnecessary breakdowns, it is time to get predictive. Consider that problems with your fleet impact everything, from towing fees to shop expenses. If you want to save big money on repair costs, consider investing in a fleet management solution. You may also want to think about consolidating shop visits, which is another way to maximize uptime.
Today’s tools provide smart fleet managers with a way to monitor fleet health from a holistic perspective. Shop technicians can receive regular updates on vehicle data, all managed by a central system. You can be notified of defects and other issues that could lead to vehicle downtime. Imagine being able to access all the vehicle information you need in a single dashboard.
When you have better data and insight surrounding the vehicles in your fleet, you’ll know when it has an issue before the truck driver or dispatch even realizes it. No one will be happier than your truck drivers when you save them visits to the shop because of your comprehensive remote monitoring program.
Engine Integration
One of the big advances in the telematics field has been how engine sensors and technologies have become an integral part to fleet management systems. Vendors have now come out with incredibly advanced systems that can update engine and other truck software over-the-air. This prevents in-person contacts and additional costs.
Even better, with some of these systems you can authorize truck drivers to update engine software systems whenever they want. Or, if you would rather your technicians do it, they can complete a quick over-the-air upgrade in the shop or somewhere in the yard.
Imagine being able to utilize web-based interfaces or mobile apps to update your vehicles’ hardware. This kind of technology was unheard of even ten years ago, let alone twenty or more. Not utilizing technologies to the benefit of your fleet is doing your fleet a disservice.
Decrease Shop Actions
One of the best ways to decrease shop costs is to decrease the number of actions your shop technicians must take to get the job done. This is also good for your technicians as it prevents wear and tear on them running around handling parts and dealing with multiple issues on fleet vehicles. By integrating electronic inspections with a fleet management system, you’ll streamline workflows and minimize the number of steps required.
Most importantly, you can better plan your shop schedule to ensure little disruption. And when vehicles get in and out of the bays quickly, repaired and ready to go, your shop morale rises, which is good for everyone.
The best way to use fleet management systems to manage your predictive maintenance program is to use electronic inspection reports to find defects. Once defects, which could lead to bigger problems down the road, are detected, you can submit a work order or pre-ticket. Your shop can then prioritize and schedule the repair. This eliminates all paper and guesswork. Mistakes are minimized when you use digital workflows.
Make Better Use of Your Time
When you get your vehicles in and out faster, with minimal downtime or unnecessary maintenance procedures, more than anything you are saving people’s time. And everyone appreciates that. Digital workflows and electronic inspection reports can be integrated with manual workflows for better optimization and training.
Imagine truck drivers no longer having to manually key in work orders. This alone is going to make your people very, very happy. Even more, your shop technicians and other maintenance professionals will not need to manually plug into a vehicle’s ICU. Nor will they have to download codes to decipher what is wrong. Alert codes are swiftly becoming a thing of the past.
Generally, when issues are brought to shop technicians through a predictive maintenance system, they can add in a preventative maintenance work order and bring the vehicle in immediately when it returns to the yard. This is the single best way to prevent your rigs from breaking down. Instead, you can refocus your team’s time from tedious administrative tasks and allow them to prioritize repairs in a way that makes sense to them. By automating communications when work orders come in, you’ll ensure your people are happy and your fleet is healthy.