Does Your Business Have A Vehicle Fleet? Here’s How To Maintain It
Quite a few companies will rely on a fleet of vehicles to operate. As vital as these could be to your business, these will have several drawbacks. The cost of buying them may be one of the more notable. Another issue would be their maintenance, which could be larger than you’d think.
With how much use your vehicles will get, you’ll need to make sure that they’re running properly when you need them to. After all, you wouldn’t want a truck to break down on a delivery, for example.
Performing maintenance on your company fleet will involve more than just addressing problems as they come up, however. Keeping them properly maintained will involve multiple factors. You’ll need to make sure you focus on each of these, as they’ll ensure that your fleet of company vehicles continues to function.
How To Maintain Your Company’s Fleet Of Vehicles
Get Repairs Done Early
Getting your vehicles repaired as soon as you notice any issues could seem obvious. You’d be surprised at the number of business owners who don’t follow this rule, however. Much of that could be to try to save on immediate costs. That shouldn’t be the route you take.
The longer a problem goes on, the worse it will get. That could end up doing much more damage to the vehicle than you’d expect. As a result, it’ll need to be in the repair shop for much longer. The cost of fixing the issue will also skyrocket.
If costs are a priority, then it’ll be well worth implementing any repairs as early as possible. That makes regular inspections of your vehicle a priority. These will help you find and identify any problems and get them addressed. It could be worth inspecting your company vehicles every week.
It’s also worth partnering with a local car maintenance company, such as M&L Truck Service. Doing so could have multiple benefits. Typically, it’ll mean that your fleet is seen to much faster than it otherwise would have. The cost of repairs could also be noticeably lower.
Know The Importance Of Preventative Maintenance
Most vehicle downtime is fueled by a lack of care and maintenance. The less attention you pay to your fleet’s needs, the more likely it is that they’ll start breaking down. Taking preventative measures will minimize this, making it a priority.
There are multiple preventative maintenance tasks that you could do. Some of the more notable of these include rotating the tires, changing the oil, and performing regular safety inspections.
Taking this approach will minimize the amount of issues your company’s fleet sees. It’ll also help you find problems early, which will help reduce the cost of repairs in the long term.
Pay Attention To The Total Cost
The cost of your company fleet will be one of the more important factors when you’re growing it. There’s a lot more involved than the purchase price, however. You’ll also need to worry about maintenance costs, fuel costs, and overall repairs. That could make the total cost of the vehicle much higher than you’d think.
At some point, you might want to consider updating it. That could involve selling older vehicles in your fleet. Keep in mind what the residual costs of your cars are. If you do, you can determine how much you should get by selling off certain vehicles in your future.
Spec Your Vehicles Properly
You’ll need to take some measures before you start growing your company’s fleet of vehicles or even get the first car. You’ll need to spec your vehicles properly, for example. To do so, you’ll need to make sure you know what the vehicles will have to put up with during a typical work week.
That can vary dramatically depending on what industry you’re in and what the vehicles will be used for. If you’ll need trucks for shipping and logistics, for instance, you’ll need to determine whether certain options can withstand the loads they’ll have to carry.
If you under-spec these, it could lead to damage and more repairs and maintenance in the future. Naturally, that’ll lead to higher costs, which you’ll want to avoid.
Make Sure Drivers Know Company Policy
Every company with a fleet of vehicles will need to have a policy focused on them. That policy will outline multiple issues and other factors related to the vehicles. That includes when they should be inspected, how often they should be cleaned, repair procedures, and much more.
It will also go through employee rights and responsibilities related to the cars. You’ll need to make sure that the company policy is properly communicated to your employees. Doing so will make sure that everyone is on the same page and that a minimal number of issues come up.
If any accidents occur, then your employees will know exactly what to do. The same can also be said for repairs and other issues.
Check The Tire Pressure Regularly
You might have heard about the importance of tire pressure before. You might still overlook this as part of your maintenance procedures, however. That could be a large mistake. Tire pressure will affect multiple things, including handling, fuel mileage, and overall tire wear.
These will all have a domino effect on your driver safety and overall vehicle safety. That makes it vital that a car’s tire pressure is optimal. Your company’s fleet of vehicles will be no different. You’ll need to make sure to check and address this with your other maintenance tasks.
When you’re doing so, it’s also worth checking the tire temperature. That’ll be especially true as the seasons change. While this mightn’t be as vital as your tire pressure, it’s still a part of making sure that your company fleet is well maintained.
Wrapping Up
There are multiple benefits to maintaining your company fleet properly. The most obvious of these is that it’ll avoid any downtime that you might otherwise see. Doing so should also reduce the overall costs of repairs and upkeep.
These are all benefits that most business owners will want to take advantage of. Despite the effort that this might take, it’ll reap dividends in the long term.