Why is commercial vehicle maintenance important for logistics?
The logistics industry hinges on commercial vehicles to efficiently transport goods. Regardless of the size of the fleet, commercial vehicles need to ensure a safe and timely delivery for better productivity and cost reduction with regard to everyday operations. Maintenance issues in commercial vehicles might lead to downtime and even pose a threat to the safety of drivers during a mechanical failure. Moreover commercial vehicle maintenance costs are increasing and cause a greater financial burden.
In a decade where logistics is seen as one of the most important sectors with the rise of demand for products all over the world, shipping companies, fleet managers and truck drivers compete with each other to escalate their service to meet customer satisfaction. Therefore, the need for commercial vehicle preventive maintenance cannot be ignored as it enables a seamless delivery of goods when the vehicle is in a perfect condition.
What affects commercial vehicle maintenance costs?
Commercial vehicles need frequent replacement of certain mechanical or electrical spare parts as these vehicles travel for long distances on rugged roads and involve multiple trips in a shorter span of time. Failing to replace the required parts results in higher commercial vehicle maintenance costs as the vehicles gradually stop functioning and also depreciate in value.
Therefore, scheduled preventive maintenance is crucial for commercial vehicles as it includes maintaining engine health, brake system, electrical components and similar parts in order to optimize vehicle performance.
3 ways to reduce commercial vehicle maintenance costs
- Track depreciation: Scheduled preventive maintenance helps to keep trucks in working condition for a considerable period.Trucks deteriorate over time, however, tracking the depreciation and handling repairs and replacement on a regular basis can efficiently reduce commercial vehicle maintenance costs. Tracking truck health can be done using a manual checklist or a digital device.
- Train drivers: Idling, harsh braking and increased fuel consumption lead to wear and tear of commercial vehicles much quicker than the average vehicle lifespan. Truck maintenance program is an effective strategy to reduce commercial vehicle maintenance costs by training drivers to follow best practices while driving like keeping track of the speed, switching off vehicle engines during non-driving hours and being mindful of fuel consumption on a daily basis.
- Test Technology: A Preventive maintenance software can help to reduce commercial vehicle maintenance costs by leveraging the power of telematics, vehicle tracking, driver behavior monitoring system and similar technologies. The technology can predict maintenance issues and send alerts in order to take necessary action to resolve the issue before it becomes a major mechanical failure.
How preventive maintenance software can help you save money?
According to a study, commercial vehicle predictive maintenance is highly cost effective, saving roughly 8% to 12% over preventive maintenance, and up to 40% over reactive maintenance (Source: WebinarCare). The benefits of using a preventive maintenance software is significant, however, only a minority of fleets use their telematics solution to track idling (37%), harsh braking (33%), maintenance (32%) and fuel usage (30%), all important factors in safety and cost savings (Source: Teletrac Navman).
Let’s Wrap Up!
Commercial vehicle preventive maintenance is an important part of fleet management as it ensures that the vehicles are in working condition for a seamless shipment delivery process. There are several reasons why trucks encounter maintenance issues including harsh braking, idling, prolonged replacement of spare parts and other similar issues. However, commercial vehicle maintenance costs can be reduced by tracking depreciation, training drivers and testing technology in order to reduce the vehicle downtime and lower the maintenance costs.
Axlerate is a unified logistics management platform to unify all fleet-related operations and expenses. Our solutions help to simplify tolls, fuel purchases, fleet expenses, loans, insurance, escrow, payments, truck booking, fleet management and the buying and selling of logistics products and services.
