With all the supply chain disruptions of the last few years—and more potentially coming from labor issues among the Big Three Automakers—fleet managers need solutions that help extend fleet lifespan.
You could cross your fingers and hope your vehicles live longer than their expected service life. Or, you could use these specific “hacks” to get more useful life from the trucks you’re running.
Get Serious About Preventative Maintenance
Yes, you’re probably doing the minimum, like changing oil and replacing tires. However, using a sophisticated tool like GPS Trackit’s maintenance module gives you much better information about the real status of your vehicles. By tracking maintenance schedules and monitoring vehicle performance metrics, you can perform regular maintenance and fix nagging issues before they become disabling.
Use Vehicle Tracking
Vehicle tracking not only gives you real-time information about the status of your vehicles. You also gain the power to move vehicles in and out of service proactively to extend the overall service life of your fleet. One GPS Trackit client uses tracking to rotate an extra truck into service to spread mileage and wear and tear equally across her fleet. It also allows for trucks to be maintained and serviced without creating a backlog or unanticipated downtime. Tracking also helps you build more efficient routes so trucks cover the same territory while driving fewer miles. This strategy has helped extend the fleet lifespan of each vehicle by more than a year.
Beef Up Driver Training
The single biggest factor in vehicle service life? The way the vehicle is driven. Driver behavior like hard braking, rapid acceleration, and excessive idling increases wear and tear, reduces fuel efficiency, and increases the likelihood of a disabling accident. By providing driver training, you can promote safe driving habits, reduce incidents of aggressive driving, and improve fuel efficiency. Your vehicles last longer, your drivers are at less risk, you spend less on fuel and your repair and insurance costs go down.
Ready to implement these strategies in your business? Talk to one of our experienced Fleet Advisors today to see how a customized fleet management system can save you hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars per month.
