Importance of Fleet Vehicle Maintenance Management

Fleet vehicle maintenance falls under the umbrella of a fleet manager’s responsibilities. Most fleet management plans include routine vehicle inspections and the addition of fleet management software can help troubleshoot when fleet vehicle maintenance might be needed.

With this, you’ll still need to keep an eye on the vehicle maintenance your fleet undergoes.

The Importance of Fleet Maintenance Management

Outsourcing fleet vehicle maintenance to a service provider has tremendous advantages. It can allow you to save money, increase productivity and gain expert insight into vehicle mechanics.

However, you must also manage your vehicle maintenance providers. Just like you would your driver’s location, you must be in the know at all times regarding your vehicles.

What exactly does this entail?

For starters, you’ll want a system that allows you to track vital information regarding vehicle fleet maintenance procedures. Knowing when the last time a vehicle had an oil and filter change or how many miles has passed since the tires were rotated or replaced on one of your assets will allow you to properly decide if and when fleet vehicle maintenance needs to be conducted.

The key here is to be proactive instead of reactive. Fleet managers can’t run the risk of having a broken down asset due to lack of maintenance oversight.

Instead, follow some of these approaches in order to generate the best possible outcome for your fleet vehicle’s well-being.

Set Up a Maintenance Approvals Process

With a full lineup of assets, you’ll also want to have an approvals process in place. This way you can be in control of authorizing when maintenance is needed. Aim to be in front of a potential maintenance issue instead of letting it negatively impact your business.

Trying to do this manually for hundreds of fleet vehicles can be overwhelming and difficult to stay organized. Instead, opt for a fleet software system that can integrate this information without tedious data entry. This way you can access, analyze and make quick, informed decisions based on accurate data.

Fleet Vehicle Maintenance Quality Control

Another important aspect of fleet vehicle maintenance management is monitoring the work completed on your assets. Surely your providers did an excellent job conducting thorough repairs and servicing, but you can’t take the chance without verifying yourself.

You must conduct your own inspection to ensure the quality of the vehicle maintenance is to your standards. These quality checks should be routine and scheduled shortly after servicing is completed.

This way, you’ll be able to quickly identify any discrepancies and take the proper action without a dispute.

Performance-Based Vendor Contracts

In order to confirm the quality of your vendor’s work, you’ll want to negotiate the terms of service prior to agreeing to any maintenance. Make sure you prepare a list of services you will need and present them prior to any sort of negotiating.

In order to hold your service providers accountable for their work. Some of the performance metrics you can use for maintenance providers include repair turnover rates (also referred to as turnaround times) and comeback rates, along with the results from your own quality control review.

Measuring performance is critical in fleet maintenance management and although it might seem mundane, it can’t be overlooked. This can prevent your assets from being stuck in the shop too long and ensures timely transactions with your vendors.

After all, every moment of asset idle time is wasted potential drive time.

Not only will this prevent any sudden need for additional maintenance, but it will also give you reassurance that you have chosen the right maintenance provider for your fleet.

Having peace of mind that your fleet vehicles are fully-functioned is a value that cannot be overlooked.

I´m a Fleet Management expert, and the manager of Advanced Fleet Management Consulting, that provides Fleet Management Consultancy Services.