Maintaining a fleet of vehicles isn’t easy. It also doesn’t come cheap. The replacement parts and labor costs pile up quickly if you neglect to take care of such things as regular checkups and preventative maintenance procedures. In addition, you must have personnel in charge of records-keeping to will prevent unnecessary breakdowns due to unfulfilled service needs.
There are several things to consider in taking care of your vehicles and improving the overall efficiency of your fleet. You must ensure there are processes and regulations in effect that will provide you with a system to track each vehicle. The more you know about your fleet, the better.
Here are six essential tips for caring for your business’s fleet of vehicles.
- Track everything about your vehicles
Implement a system that will track each vehicle’s performance. The amount of data may prove overwhelming if done manually, so you might need to ask a programmer to develop an application or program to help you analyze each vehicle’s performance based on a set of parameters.
- Keep your fleet looking sharp
A fleet that looks good ensures a vote of confidence from your customers. Your vehicle’s appearance reflects on your business, so you want them to look nice. Fit vehicles with a sturdy bed liner, install accessories, and make the paint look presentable for your fleet to be certified head-turners on the road. A good-looking fleet provides exceptional free advertising and marketing for your company.
- Schedule preventative maintenance
Your fleet shouldn’t only look good, but they should also work efficiently. You can achieve such an efficiency level if you conduct regular preventative services. For example, use the data from the tracking system and ensure that each vehicle will have its oil changed, the tires pumped, and other fluid replaced on time. Doing these simple processes will ensure the motor’s longevity and overall efficiency.
- Ensure spare parts availability
Should any of your vehicles break down, you must have spare parts readily available to minimize downtime. The longer the vehicle sits idle, the lower revenue it will provide you. Therefore, ensuring you have the necessary resources to get things back to normal will mean a lot in the long run.
- Accountability matters
Have your drivers log in every trip detail so you can create your database correctly, and file a report about the status of the vehicle before and after their shifts. This will help you sort out which vehicles may need preventative servicing and the like.
- Incentivize efficiency
One way to care for your vehicles is to incentivize your drivers so they would adequately take care of their rides. Set milestones and reward drivers if they achieve them without any hitch in their records. The more they take care of their vehicles, the better chance that they’ll get their incentive.
- Takeaway
Maintaining your company’s fleet of vehicles will be challenging but is a doable exercise. You must lay out strong policies to ensure accountability and promote efficiency to properly maintain your vehicles.