No matter what the size of your business, truck fleet maintenance is vital to both your company and your bottom line. Failure to properly maintain your semi trucks can result in the expensive problems of breakdowns and missed deadlines.
We’ve outlined a few costly maintenance mistakes that mean you will lose money, ruin your online reputation and lose customers!
Expensive Fleet Maintenance Mistakes
Underestimating the Usage of Your Vehicles
Are some of your trucks getting more miles than others? If so, be sure to target them for extensive maintenance. If you have a few trucks that aren’t used often, take a careful look at why this is and ask yourself if you accurately have the number of trucks to complete the tasks in a timely manner.
Ignoring Your Idle Time
Did you know that some vehicles may idle for more than 8 hours a day? On average, a long-haul truck will use around 1,500 gallons of diesel per year idling. Typically a long-haul truck idles 1,800 hours a year.
Idling is expensive—be sure to track it!
Overlooking the Value of a Good Semi Truck Tire Shop
Blowouts and other tire problems can cause trouble on the road, delaying your valuable load and keeping it from its final destination. In cases like this, it’s vital that you are immediately in touch with someone who understands the best brands at a tire shop for semi-trucks.
At Mangum’s we’re stocked with only the best tire brands, and our extensive inventory means we likely have exactly what you need. Therefore, you’ll never be stuck waiting for a store to open.
Failure to Communicate Across the Company
At Mangum’s, we’re all a team, from the technicians who answer the emergency calls to the employees in the workshop, all are vital for our operations.
We know that it’s important to keep everyone updated on vehicles, their mileage and any maintenance that needs to be completed. Keeping track of diagnostic trouble codes and communicating it across the maintenance team is extremely beneficial.
Failure to Plan for the Best Routes
At Mangum’s, we specialize in delivering time-sensitive items. A big part of this is preparing the best routes.
Inefficient planning equals missed deadlines and wasted fuel. This can damage your reputation. Sometimes even the simplest planning can lead to major fuel savings—which in turn reduces the amount of wear and tear on your vehicles.
Making Poor Outsourcing Choices
Many businesses outsource their fleet maintenance. When a different company is taking care of your fleet, your chances of failure or success rest in their hands. Therefore, you should always select a company that:
- Educates and respects its employees
- Has been in business for decades
- Has stellar customer service reviews
- Has extensive experience
- Maintains accurate and timely communication with you
- Treats all clients with the highest level of service
We believe if you take a closer look at Mangum’s fleet maintenance services, you’ll find we check all the right boxes.
Fleet Maintenance Mistakes: Failure to Innovate
There are new technologies and solutions being developed all the time. A solid fleet maintenance plan means carefully evaluating these recent developments to see if they are a good fit for you. If you don’t, you’ll soon find that not only is your efficiency taking a hit, but your competition is gaining an edge on you.
At Mangum’s, we represent a unique combination: We embrace the values of treating others the way we would like to be treated, while, at the same time, we are always examining new technologies and ways we can innovate to better serve our clients.
Mangum’s Fleet Maintenance: Quality, Reliability and Dependability
Your profitability is only as good as your fleet maintenance. That’s why, at Mangum’s we treat your trucks with the same care as we do our own. We take a detailed and comprehensive approach to maintenance. In addition, we will never farm your maintenance tasks out to a third-party vendor.
Discover how our fleet maintenance services can help you get the most out of your haul. Contact us today.
