Three Ways to Cut Fleet Maintenance Costs written by John Ryynanen of Public Works Training.

"Article in Fall Edition of "Crossroads"  Quarterly publication of County Road Association of Michigan

John Ryynanen  quoted from "Blue Collar Fleet Management" written by Mark A. Lester.

Excerpts below:

Tips from the experts:

The next maintenance step is thorough pre-trip and post-trip inspections ,and keeping up with preventative maintenance.  Truck & Trailer Specialties ' Mark Lester advises fleet managers to supplement the manufacturers recommended preventive maintenance schedule with their own, based upon observations and experiences.

"With heavy maintenance trucks, your PM program cannot be static.  You have to revisit it regularly and make adjustments based upon equipment breakdowns, problems, and other deficiencies that your operators and mechanics encounter during normal use and repair," he said.

During his 20-year tenure as fleet manager for MDOT's Southwest Region, :ester noticed through inspection and repair records the Class V trucks experienced battery failures after about three years in service.
To prevent batteries from failing or straining other charging system components, he adjusted the PM plan.  Instead of waiting for battery failure, mechanics replaced the batteries before the three-year service life cycle.
"With heavy maintenance trucks, it is much better-and less expensive- the be proactive than reactive," he said.

One Chassis, many jobs  (multi-functional trucks)

Mark Lester, product support specialist at Truck & Trailer Specialties, says multi-use trucks make the most sense when considering proactive versus reactive operational needs. "Plowing snow is reactive; spraying a bridge deck with brine to prevent ice from forming is proactive," Lester said.  "Hook loaders provide the biggest bang for the buck because when you're not using them for high-priority reactive work, you can easily swap equipment and perform any number of other operations."

Further information on these topics and more can be obtained from my book "Blue Collar Fleet Management" available for purchase at:   www.lulu.com.