With new vehicles being in the short supply fleets have been holding on to their old assets longer than they normally do. To ensure that their old vehicles remain functional and efficient It's never been more essential for fleets to remain in the forefront of their maintenance tasks.
While many aspects of daily life are back to normal to this point, car procurement remains an obstacle in the way of fleet managers all over the world. The constant disruptions to supply chains have caused costs to rise as well as the availability to diminish and cancellations of orders to become a common occurrence. Without any relief the majority of fleets have chosen to maintain their vehicles longer than they typically might (or would prefer to).
However, for older vehicles to stay in condition, it's essential that they're properly maintained all the way through their lives. Let's take a look at the steps fleets need to undertake to ensure their vehicles are functional (and cost-effective) for the long run.
Keep an eye on DVIRs
Inspection reports for driver vehicles (DVIRs) are the first protection to protect your vehicle from breakdowns that can be costly. However, many defects reported in DVIRs remain unresolved because they aren't deemed as a cause that warrants immediate attention. Because even small defects can result in catastrophic equipment failures in future, fleets are wise to steer clear of tossing the can in the future.
Instead fleets (especially those with vehicles that are old) must closely monitor the status of their DVIRs to ensure that failed items are dealt with promptly. Fleet managers can utilize the software for monitoring fleet performance to track their DVIRs and track the trends.
Make sure you follow OEM guidelines for intervals of high mileage maintenance
As we get older, doctors recommend their patients to see them on a frequent on a regular basis. In the same manner OEM manufacturers (OEMs) advise their vehicles to be maintained more frequently when a certain reading of the odometer has been achieved. These OEM guidelines generally recommend that certain vehicle maintenance tasks should be performed based on intervals of miles (e.g. oil changes every 3000 miles) or the time (brake inspections each year).
If they follow these guidelines fleets can stop little scratches from accumulating into major breakdowns, making sure their vehicles stay on the road for longer.
Fleet management software makes maintaining maintenance intervals with high mileage easy by automating reminders for you whenever maintenance is due. The user can set the reminders to be according to time or meters reading-based intervals (or either).
Monitor TCO to determine cost that aren't in line with the norm.
While almost every business keeps track of the costs of buying new vehicles, few are able to track the money they've invested into maintaining their cars over time. This is why fleets frequently fail to recognize the time when they've spent a lot of money on a car that would be better off replaced. The inability to see the TCO (TCO) awareness is particularly difficult when dealing with older vehicles because of their higher maintenance requirements.
It is a good thing that fleets of all sizes are able to effortlessly track TCO by using the Fleet management software (FMS). One of the biggest advantages of software for managing fleets is their capacity to track each expense that comes with the vehicle (e.g. fuel, insurance, maintenance, etc.) and then report TCO at a real time. This information allows operators of fleets to make informed decisions about the use of vehicles and replacement policy.
Assign the assets according to their CPM
There are a myriad of factors that fleet managers must be aware of, the cost-per-mile (CPM) is among the ones that are most effective. Based on dividing a vehicle's TCO by the amount of miles it has driven by the car's CPM will help fleet managers comprehend the costs associated with the task being completed by that particular vehicle. Based on this knowledge fleet managers can increase the profitability of their fleet by allocating assets according to their CPM.
If, for instance, an assignment requires extensive traveling, deploying vehicles that has less CPM is more economical than a vehicle that has an increased CPM. Since older vehicles tend to be equipped with more CPM so fleet managers can employ this method to assign them tasks closer to the place they are parked.
The best software will help make managing fleet assets easy by consolidating the information about your assets into one reliable source. From recording assignment history to storing and surfacing documents, as well as crucial fleet utilization statistics by the process of digitizing your asset management can significantly improve the efficiency of your business.