1. Truck Lifespan is Decreasing

What is the lifespan of your fleet’s vehicles? If a truck is in tip-top shape, it can easily reach 500,000 – 800,000 miles – or more. Fleet managers must take inventory of their fleet and look for the following:

• Current odometer reading
• Average rig age
• Average age of retiring a rig

If you find that your average rig’s lifespan is below the average of 750,000 miles or that you’re starting to replace rigs faster, you may need better maintenance. Trucks are designed to be on the road for 10 – 15+ years with proper maintenance.

While a rig that is on the road for 3,000 miles per month is going to have a shorter lifespan than a vehicle that is on the road for 1,000 miles per month, you can still expect a well-maintained rig to have a lifespan of up to 750,000+ miles.

If you find your rigs are not reaching the 500,000+ mile mark before retiring them because of maintenance issues, you need a proper maintenance plan.

2. Maintenance Problems Are Becoming Costlier

Preventative maintenance is far cheaper than major repairs. Gather your maintenance receipts for the past year and look for cost trends. If prices are rising due to more serious repairs being needed, a routine maintenance plan can help keep costs low.

However, if you run an older fleet, you can expect there to be more major repairs needed as mileage increases.

3. Drivers are Starting to Complain

What are your drivers saying about your rigs? If you don’t know, look up your own company on Glassdoor or Indeed.com. When truckers begin complaining about the following, it’s time to consider hiring a professional maintenance company:

• Downtime due to trucks breaking down
• Breakdowns being frequent

Drivers are on the road daily and will have insight into their truck’s condition that you cannot have because you’re not behind the wheel of their trucks daily. If you send out a survey to your employees or customers inquiring about the state of your rigs and they mention that more maintenance is needed, listen to their recommendations and have the rigs maintained more often.

If you do not maintain your fleet, you risk:

• Costlier repairs
• Needing to buy trucks more often
• Increase in breakdowns and lost revenue
• Higher safety issues

It’s always better to maintain a rig than it is to have to replace it or deal with a trucker calling from the side of the road with a rig that has broken down. In fact, there are many benefits to regularly maintaining your fleet.

A lax fleet maintenance program allows for premature wear and tear of critical components. If you regularly maintain your trucks, it will:

• Reduce the risk of safety issues on the road, such as brake failure, which can lead to serious injuries and safety concerns for your fleet
• Improve revenue by keeping rigs on the road for longer periods of time and minimize the risk of breakdown impacting your profitability
• Reduce costlier rig repairs that could have been avoided if you had regular maintenance performed
• Lower gas usage and costs, thanks to keeping your rig in tip-top shape and running well

From a business and employee satisfaction perspective, it makes the most sense to spend the time and money to maintain a rig. Maintenance will improve your employee’s happiness and safety and reduce the risk of costly repairs impacting revenue.

Truck maintenance requires a specialized program designed to keep big rigs on the road for longer. You’ll find multiple custom options available, including our plans, which include:

• Custom maintenance programs that are designed to meet your specific needs better than a standard plan can offer.
• PM+ plan, which is designed to offer preventive maintenance, inspections, fuel discounts, washing and discounts on parts and maintenance.
• PEG plan, offering 24/7 roadside assistance, bumper-to-bumper maintenance and predictable expenses each month.
• Time and materials plans, which allow you to seek maintenance or repairs that fall outside of a regular maintenance schedule.

If you opt for an in-house plan, you’ll need to hire your own mechanics and hold a lot of inventory to make rapid repairs or maintain a rig properly. When you work with a maintenance professional, you benefit from having a company that you can rely upon when your truck needs maintenance.

Priority service and a knowledgeable team that you don’t have to manage in-house allow you peace of mind that your rigs will continue delivering loads with minimal-to-no downtime.

Unique Fleet Maintenance for Your Business

Your truck maintenance is unique to your operations. Suppose U Drive offers multiple fleet maintenance programs designed to fit into every fleet’s needs.

Click here to learn more about our fleet maintenance programs.

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