If there is one thing that any fleet manager will tell you is always at the front of their mind, it is maintaining as much uptime as possible. Downtime eats into the bottom line and creates headaches that no fleet needs. It is no secret that maintaining consistent uptime is a never-ending challenge. But what is a fleet manager to do in order to better manage fleet uptime and downtime?
There are concrete steps that go a long way to ensuring your fleet remains as effectively utilized as possible. And remember, this is not just about your rigs. Shop uptime and downtime can also be an issue. So, how do you speed up the shop? Today, we are going to dig deeper into these important topics.
First Steps to Managing Downtime
When it comes to ensuring your efficiency and utilization does not take a big hit, you need to focus on the fundamentals of downtime. Why have a vehicle or vehicles experienced downtime? And when you do experience downtime, who is to blame? There are a lot of people and organizations deeply involved with fleet operations, from dealers to vendors.
Because trucking companies work with a lot of different vendor partners, relationships become critical. Are you building a solid relationship with your local dealer or service provider? In order to effectively solve the problems related to productivity, routing, and safety you need to stay in close contact and build effective relationships with those your fleet relies on.
You can also count on partners helping in situations where one of them fails. If you have a truck that breaks down and a service provider cannot come through with a fix, a good relationship with your local dealer could come in handy. Don’t hesitate to visit dealers’ or service providers’ offices. Not only do you want to maintain that relationship, you want them to know you are fully invested in their performance.
Fleets also need to make sure they are effectively deciding when they should push a service provider to quickly turn around a vehicle. At the same time, your service providers will be grateful when you let them know that a repair is not urgent. That way they have better flexibility in how they cycle new jobs in and out of the queue.
Practice Effective Communication
While technology has given many trucking and transportation companies an easy way to track and share information between motor carrier and service provider, nothing beats face-to-face communication. Phone calls and emails also work. The point is, don’t rely on a web interface to govern how well you communicate with a partner.
Still, technology does provide some quick answers. For example, we are now in the era of “virtual technicians.” With a virtual technician, a service provider can troubleshoot, diagnose, and provide possible fix information to your in-house shop technicians. If you have the part you need in stock, then problem solved! Otherwise, at least the provider has a head start and time in the bay can be scheduled.
Many dealers even use mobile maintenance technicians. This way you don’t have to worry about getting the truck to them. Trucking dealers only have so many spots in their bay anyway, so if you properly communicate that you would like a mobile maintenance solution, you are not only doing yourself a favor, you are freeing up more resources for the dealer.
According to a recent study, only five truck systems account for 64% of all roadside repairs. They include:
- Tires
- Brakes
- Lighting
- Powerplant
- Cooling system
It is important to remember that you cannot rely on preventative maintenance alone to prevent downtime. Downtime will happen. And if a technician finds something anomalous during preventative maintenance, you must make sure you check on the problem, as it may be something completely unrelated to a failure – it could be truck driver behavior.
A More Efficient Shop
But what if the problem is not another partner or dealer, but rather that you just need to tighten thing sup in your shop? One example that your shop has full control over is what parts are available. Waiting for parts is a huge contributor to unnecessary downtime. You could probably tighten up a ton of different processes to create more time.
First, look at how much time your preventative maintenance program takes. Although important, preventative maintenance can sometimes cause inordinate amounts of downtime, especially if your shop is managing the process efficiently. The best way to assess whether your PM program is taking too much time is to map out the movements your technician makes around the shop and then conduct a thorough analysis.
For example, are your fleet technicians leaving the inspection area several times throughout the inspection process? It might be they are doing so because they don’t have everything they need at their workstation. Just by bringing the tools your technician needs to get the job done to the office, you can shave as much downtime as possible.
Another appropriate question is: When was the last time your shop did a thorough inventory and cleanup? If you have a bay filled with useless junk, when the time comes for you to quickly get a truck in and out, you’re going to be tacking minutes on the downtime clock. Your shop should be clean as a whistle to keep downtime at bay.
You also need to approach problems in the shop from the perspective of not what needs to be fixed now, but what is causing the problem to begin with. If a technician is replacing batteries on a truck that is only one-year old, that is a clue to something deeper going on. Could it be that the batteries are dying because they are going through too many discharge cycles? If so, what is causing it?
Trucking companies need to approach a problem not with the idea that all they need to do is fix it. It may be a simple thing to fix, but you might find yourself fixing it repeatedly.
Technology to the Rescue
We talk about this seemingly all the time, but here is another example of where technology can reap big rewards for intrepid fleets wise enough to tap into the potential. Take telematics as just one example. Telematics technology has created an entirely new paradigm for fleets. In fact, trucks of today very nearly tell you exactly what is wrong with them – if you are using the right tech.
This has led a lot of fleets to ask: Do we even need preventative maintenance? Or perhaps we should wait for an alert code then address it? They are appropriate questions. And, quite frankly, tech-savvy fleet technicians can use telematics to find out what the top fault codes are and then work on those. If you are a motor carrier operating in the 21st century, you really have no excuse to not be using these technologies.
Of course, you also don’t want to over-service your truck. Over-servicing is a huge downtime culprit. You traditionally want to be pretty conservative when it comes to service intervals, at least without knowing the condition the truck is in.
Advanced diagnostics and telematics technologies can give you a very detailed look at the truck. Even if the truck does not need a service, having a diagnostics program involved will alert you before it becomes a larger problem. Knowing exactly what condition the truck is in allows you to push those service intervals out farther than you normally would, and without fear the truck will break down in the meantime.
Build a Better Shop
One way you can address shop inefficiency is by building the best and most beautiful shop you can. There are certainly been time your shop technicians have said to themselves, “We wish we had more room in here.” And you don’t necessarily need to make huge investments. Are you already utilizing your current assets as optimally as possible?
If your shop is cluttered, a proper cleansing is the first place to look. You never know what part or tool you might find hidden under that mound of useless boxes in the corner. But if you have a clean shop to begin with, you won’t need to worry about that problem.
Despite all the changes you make to parts, personnel and technology, the fact is, every part of your operation plays a part in how much downtime you suffer. Whether it be how your truck drivers operate or how efficient your shop is, managing downtime should be something that is second nature to fleet managers, no matter the trucking application they work in.