Whether you have a cargo company, a car rental or a school bus company, fleet maintenance and repair should not be neglected.
Fleet maintenance programs are essential for your establishment because your vehicles stand as a reflection of you and your venture. They’re your primary source of revenue and are truly an eye-catching advertising channel that’s on-the-go.
To successfully maintain and manage your fleet, you need a fleet maintenance plan that completely grasps both the nature of your business and the way your vehicles are being utilized.
It must be configured to your business demands and designed to reduce expenses, minimize downtime, and take advantage of productivity. You need to have a fleet maintenance program template that guarantees your vehicles both function and appear flawless.
Fleet Maintenance Program Tips
To help you, we’ve come up with a simple fleet management checklist as well as tips and tricks to construct a comprehensive fleet maintenance program regardless of the type and number of vehicles you own and the complexity of the maintenance necessary to keep them running.
- Take advantage of fleet management tools
The first item in our fleet management checklist is one of the most essential things for effective fleet maintenance: a robust fleet management software.
Running a fleet is no cakewalk, and if you’re still managing and monitoring your fleet management and maintenance data traditionally, you’re definitely missing out on the efficiency that comes with digital fleet management and streamlining systems. All successful fleet management programs have abandoned tedious and time-consuming manual labor for automated and digital systems that meet their fleet maintenance needs.
Using tools to manage fleets
Fleet management software is vital to anyone in the telematics industry because it enables fleet managers, dispatchers and entrepreneurs to precisely oversee and track the actions and intricacies of an entire fleet in real-time.
The software coalesces and sheds light on data gathered from GPS trackers, machine analysis and other platforms to conveniently provide users with an extensive perception of their fleet, which comes especially useful in achieving the objectives of fleet maintenance programs.
In fact, fleet management software has become so essential in the telematics industry, with the fleet management software market standing at $14.5 billion in 2019, as per Fortune Business Insights.
Surveying your fleet’s condition and evaluating the execution of your fleet management plan has never been easier and more accurate with fleet management software. Additionally, the system can also help you make important recommendations and work towards them to improve your services.
Choosing a fleet management software
While extremely beneficial, selecting the perfect platform for your company can be a demanding endeavor. Fleet maintenance programs should go beyond vehicles, which is why you need to think holistically when weighing options for your fleet management software.
Here at Uffizio, we have SmartBus, a bus management software that needs to be on your bus management checklist. Although it’s designed for school busses, our system is flexible enough to accommodate any telematics company that wants to achieve successful fleet maintenance.
Our platform can keep tabs on each vehicle on your fleet through real-time monitoring and alert you if any issues arise. It can also give you timely notifications about the maintenance required for your vehicle to ensure the safety of passengers and drivers.
We truly believe the best bus management software holds safety to a high regard. At Uffizio, we’re committed to meet the demands you’ve put down on your fleet maintenance program template.
To test our product’s features, check out our other platforms and see what we can do for your fleet maintenance and repair, feel free to get in touch and request a free demo.
- Build a firm maintenance schedule
Scheduling fleet maintenance and repair so that each vehicle is in top shape is a key role for every fleet manager. Your vehicles won’t always operate flawlessly, and at some point, they’re bound to face deterioration and unexpected failures. This is why a strict maintenance schedule is essential, especially if you’re outsourcing fleet maintenance and repair.
To set up a fleet maintenance schedule for your fleet maintenance program template, you must first examine mileage, engine hours, fuel consumption, and calendar time for each vehicle and use this data as your guide.
You also need to tally your breakdowns, tows, jumpstarts, and emergency vehicle repairs to pinpoint any patterns that can smoothen maintenance schedules.
However, establishing a schedule is just the beginning. Once you’ve ticked off that item on your fleet management checklist, you need to follow through with it to dodge unexpected breakdowns and downtimes.
- Establish goals for your fleet maintenance plan
Every fleet maintenance plan should have realistic objectives fleet managers can put their efforts in. This will give you direction and drive to carry out your scheme and effectively maintain your vehicles.
Additionally, you can use these goals as a basis for evaluating your performance when it comes to fleet maintenance and repair, so whether you’re looking to reduce fleet repair expenses or keep up your vehicle’s resale price, you need to list these objectives and work towards them.
- Put unplanned usage into your list of priorities
Some drivers may use company-owned vehicles without their employers’ awareness to earn more profit from other jobs or resolve personal matters.
A lot of telematics company owners often neglect the risks brought by unauthorised trips. Each time a member of your team takes your vehicle from a designated area to an off-the-record hustle without your knowledge, that staff is putting your vehicle, company and other resources on the line.
Simply put, with these side jobs, your driver is increasing the chances of an accident, a mechanical problem, or to an extent, theft. Prevention should also be a constant point in your fleet management program template.
Save yourself from unnecessary maintenance and reduce risk with fleet management software that can obtain reports regarding unplanned vehicle usage.
- Monitor driver behavior
Every year, 1.35 million individuals die on roadways worldwide, as per data from the World Health Organization.
Accidental damages are tough to deal with. It’s not just about the loss of profit or resources but also about the loss of life. That’s why it’s necessary to address it in your fleet maintenance plan.
You can breathe easier knowing that these unfortunate circumstances can be avoided when you put up preventive measures such as incorporating telematics tools like MDVR video telematics that can closely monitor driver behavior. That way, you can focus on other aspects that need attention in your fleet maintenance programs.
SmartBus has driving behavior functionalities that enable users to easily compute their driver’s rag scores and determine points for improvement for smoother journeys.
Keeping a close eye on your drivers’ performance results in reducing fuel costs and decreasing the chances of accidents that could occur when a vehicle is in use. It can also help with your insurance matters if you want to vie for lower premiums because at-fault accident rates are minimized with effective monitoring.
You can also pull out reckless drivers that put your assets at increased risk and reward those that use and look after your vehicles professionally and appropriately.
More than all these benefits, monitoring driver behavior promises safety throughout your operations, from the passengers seated in your vehicle to the members of your team.
When you put driver behavior in your fleet management checklist, you’re not only doing your company a favor by reducing risks for your resources, and you’re also helping improve road safety.
- Seek professional assistance
Fleet maintenance programs exist to improve productivity and guarantee vehicle usage security while carrying out company operations. It’s not easy to look over your fleet on your own and to handle all the repairs and upkeep internally.
However, numerous organizations make the terrible mistake of neglecting the need to contract professionals to execute their fleet maintenance plan. They don’t know that once they do the math, it costs them more than they could save, especially in terms of time and productivity.
Find professionals who can easily go onboard your fleet maintenance programs and help you achieve your upkeep goals without burning a hole in your pocket. Take time to look for authorities you can trust because you’ll end up investing in them too.
- Make use of mobile
Digitalization is truly transforming the telematics industry that you can execute even fleet maintenance programs via smartphones. It’s no surprise, with statistics recording 3 billion smartphone users across the globe.
User-friendly fleet management platforms are now available for fleet managers and drivers to conveniently oversee their vehicles’ activities and condition. These apps are a must-have for any fleet management checklist since it guarantees passenger safety and grants you total control over your vehicle.
SmartBus is available as an application too. You can go mobile with your fleet management plan and benefit from our powerful features by downloading our apps from Google Play or App Store.
No time to waste
Anyone who owns a fleet knows what it’s like to handle multiple tasks to manage fleet maintenance. Fleet maintenance needs to be taken seriously so that vehicles can run smoothly and organizations can avoid wasting their hard-earned cash on vehicle breakdowns and malfunctions.
If you want to see your fleet maintenance plan come to fruition, contact us, and check out our fleet maintenance management products. Bid all your vehicle issues goodbye and focus on other essential aspects of managing your fleet and scaling your business.