Preventive maintenance (PM) is a fact of life for every fleet, but not all fleets give it enough of the right kind of attention.
Some fleets only loosely follow PM guidelines set by the manufacturer and not really know which vehicles are current on their PM service. Other fleets strive to focus a great deal of attention on it, but don't have the people, processes and technology in place to make their PM program as effective as possible.
Why Preventive Maintenance Matters
A properly executed PM program offers fleets many benefits, including fewer Days Out of Service. While PM services do require taking trucks out service, they usually require significantly less time than unscheduled service events. In addition, a well-maintained truck is less likely to break down, and usually has fewer CSA violations and their resulting fines.
Perhaps you haven't considered the impact maintenance has on drivers. Drivers want to be driving, not sitting by the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. If your assets are constantly breaking down, your drivers are going to start looking for opportunities elsewhere.
So, if preventive maintenance offers all these benefits, why aren't more fleets properly executing their PM program? Many fleets try to force a one-size-fits-all solution for all their trucks, regardless of age, duty cycle, miles driven, etc. They also have no system in place for tracking PM compliance, so they're in the dark about which assets are being maintained according to schedule. Plus, fleets often don't have complete, quality, actionable data about what's found during PM inspections and PM services.