Managing your fleet

For fleet managers, nothing is more important than keeping vehicles running and productive. Maintaining vehicles, including repair, upkeep and downtime, can have a huge impact on a fleet’s bottom line. A proactive, preventive maintenance programme can help fleet managers keep vehicle repair costs and downtime to a minimum

Many fleets simply take a reactive approach to vehicle maintenance because they do not have access to the right tools. In a widely distributed fleet, that could mean costly repairs, not to mention vehicle downtime. Fleet managers need to be able to monitor and collect data on the “health” of their vehicles to fix problems early and reduce costs.

Scheduled maintenance Even simple maintenance like regular oil changes can help reduce engine wear and make the vehicle run cooler and last longer.

Setting preventative maintenance schedules requires knowing the type of vehicle, the usage (mileage, hours, operating environment), OEM warranty, recall status and regulatory requirements. In addition, it is beneficial to know the types of diagnostic problems that typically occur with different vehicle types.

Vehicle performance Information on individual vehicle performance on the road is vital to reduce maintenance costs. For example, when trucks are travelling in high heat and steep grades; monitoring the temperature of the engine, the air intake temperature and oil pressure can help fleet managers gauge engine performance. Having access to statistics on vehicle diagnostics over time is also important to determine if a vehicle is performing optimally.

Fuel economy Improving vehicle performance through preventative maintenance can improve fuel economy. Monitoring unauthorised vehicle use, excessive speeding, mileage and idling can also greatly reduce fuel usage. Repairing a vehicle that is out of tune can improve its gas mileage by an average of four per cent. Furthermore, fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, can improve your mileage by as much as 40 per cent.

From the whitepaper “Optimising Fleet Maintenance with Wireless Vehicle Management” by Networkcar.