Azuga Fleet Maintenance
Does fleeting tracking pay off? Find out.
The fleet condition has a direct bearing on its operational efficiency. It is a challenge for any fleet manager to ensure that fleet maintenance receives enough attention while avoiding cost over-runs and wrong investments. Planning goes a long way in curbing costs – hence the current emphasis on predictive maintenance. Periodically analyzing maintenance data and acting in time on alerts from the fleet tracking solution can also help reduce costs and develop more fleet efficiencies. The right approach to fleet maintenance ensures longer vehicle life and continuous monitoring of vehicle health. In this concise discussion, we look at: Accident protection, Fuel savings, Breakdown cost, Aging fleets, Simple checks every day.
Unplanned Outages | Vehicle Safety | Extraordinary Expenses | Customer Dissatisfaction
Avoid losses
Drivers are not always at fault for accidents.
It is important to have a maintenance plan in place to:
- to avert equipment failure such as an engine fault or failing brakes
- ensure the safety of your drivers and others on the road
Many accidents are preventable with attention to maintaining proper vehicle health.
Cargo could be in peril too. An accident can cause extensive damage to your customers’ goods. Besides having to compensate them, your reputation takes a hit.
Off-the-road cost
A quality preventive maintenance program ensures your equipment does not malfunction during the intervals of daily business. There are other business reasons why commercial fleets must be right on top of their vehicle maintenance.
- Disruption or delay in service due to a vehicle problem hampers efficient delivery of products and services
- Frequent disruptions blunt your edge in customer service
- Emergency maintenance (repairs) can cost 3-9 times as much as scheduled maintenance.
- Unplanned vehicle down time/mechanical incidents can increase your vehicle maintenance expenses by 53%
- Reactive maintenance also leads to higher production losses, and ‘good enough’ fixes that do not address the root problem
There are other important decisions related to maintenance. Through a detailed record of maintenance activities it is easier to assess when to opt for replacing a vehicle or a major component. In the absence of such a record, your fleet could be carrying out uneconomical repairs.
Maintenance records also help when you want to sell a vehicle. If you have a record of when each maintenance and repair was carried out along with the odometer reading, it’s informative and adds value for the buyer. Azuga Maintenance lets you set up service reminders based on three parameters: engine hours, mileage, and days.
Regular alerts include :
- Engine light notification
- Any off-hours use of vehicle
- Reminder emails about scheduled maintenance
- Reports on engine status and other diagnostics.
FSM Solution you Need to Run Your Entire Trade Services Business
Aging fleets
Preventative maintenance is even more important for fleets with a larger number of older vehicles. Supplementing to the regular schedule can reduce overall downtime in the weeks or months ahead.
Maintenance planning needs to be suited to the fleet’s current status and level of operations, and should not be based on some general averages and estimations. You can set a custom Azuga alert on aging vehicles, based on odometer mileage or apply other triggers. Other highly useful Azuga alerts are the daily emails on any DTCs (Diagnostic Trouble Code) seen.
The frequency of DTCs can help you make a decision about a particular vehicle. You can spot engine trouble as soon as it happens, giving your team ample time when an issue arises.
Does fleeting tracking pay off? Find out.
Drivers tend to neglect to do a post-trip inspection. This helps identify issues before they become serious. Before and after a trip, they should look at the lamps, brakes, tires, steering axle, fluid levels, suspension, and the power train. Regular checks are important for safety and also help in controlling maintenance costs.
Fleet managers recognize that a powerful maintenance module is an integral part of any complete fleet management suite.