A fleet vehicle maintenance log is a record of the condition and repair work that has been done on a particular vehicle in your fleet. Keeping these maintenance logs is an instrumental part of fleet maintenance. A vehicle maintenance log keeps track of all kinds of information about your vehicle’s maintenance, and can help you keep track of different issues with your vehicle over time, and even help you pinpoint issues with driver behavior. We will discuss what a fleet vehicle maintenance log should include and the benefits of keeping one below.
What Should Your Fleet Vehicle Maintenance Log Include?
There are many templates online to help you create your fleet vehicle maintenance log, but there are five basic pieces of information that it should include:
- Date and Mileage: It’s important to know each vehicle’s mileage at the time of service. This helps to keep track of recurring services, like oil changes and air filter changes, and to make sure that your parts are lasting their full lifespan. This also helps you keep track of how much your fleet is driving.
- Service Provider: Of course you’ll need to know who is providing your service. Whether you go to your regular mechanic or you just perform some routine maintenance yourself, you need to log who performed the service so if any questions arise you can reach out to whoever performed the service for details.
- Service Description: This is the most detailed column in your vehicle maintenance log. Here is where you’ll put all of the inspections that were performed, what parts were replaced, and any relevant information that may impact the vehicle in the future. It’s best to use bullet points in this section so it’s easier to read.
- Condition: Knowing the condition of the vehicle before and after the service is important to keep track of what may be needed in the near future. Condition indicators such as the color of the engine oil or transmission fluid may tell you what issues might arise in the future so you can be prepared for what you may need to spend.
- Service Cost: It’s vital to know the cost of each service provided, so you know how much you’re spending on each individual part of your vehicle. Even if you do a service yourself, you should keep track of how much you spend on materials so you know when a vehicle is exceeding its worth.
Benefits of a Fleet Vehicle Maintenance Log
Keeping your vehicles well maintained has many benefits, and keeping a log of the maintenance you perform is even better. Here are some reasons to keep a fleet vehicle maintenance log:
- Compliance: Regular inspections are required to comply with FMCSA regulations. It’s so much easier to know the status of your vehicles when you have a vehicle maintenance log on hand that tells you when everything was last checked. Whenever an issue arises, you can trace that part’s history and obtain more information.
- Easier Lifecycling: Without detailed records of a vehicle’s maintenance history, it can be difficult to tell when a vehicle’s costs are outweighing its worth. With detailed logs outlining a vehicle’s costs, you can tell exactly how much you’re spending on repairs and make decisions about a vehicle’s status.
- Reliability: Whenever one of your vehicles breaks down, you lose the time it takes to repair it. This is lost revenue and lost productivity. When your vehicles are regularly maintained and you have records of that maintenance, vehicles need to be repaired less often and maintenance can be completed more quickly.
Improve Your Maintenance Plan With Azuga
Azuga has all of the tools you need to improve your maintenance plan. Our maintenance alerts will tell you exactly when your vehicle has issues that need attention, and our fleet management software will help you keep track of all of your fleet vehicle maintenance logs electronically so it’s easy to know exactly what your vehicles need, whenever they need it. Find out what Azuga can do for you by trying a free demo.
