When you only have passenger vehicles in your fleet, the biggest risk is overdue services. It’s not uncommon for larger fleets to have 30% of vehicles overdue for a service at any point in time. However, when your fleet assets are diverse, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance becomes an important KPIs that needs to be measured.
A Maintenance Management System (MMS) should have the same key elements regardless of the fleet size, type of fleet assets, or fleet operating conditions. Even organisations that provide car allowances and novated leasing, or operate a grey fleet, should have some form of MMS.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator provides a list of eight standards in a MMS for heavy vehicles which can be applied to all fleet assets;
- Daily checks
- Fault reporting and recording
- Fault repair
- Maintenance schedules and methods
- Records and documentation
- Responsibilities
- Internal review
- Training and education
For fleets that outsource services to Fleet Management Organisations (FMO), the responsibility for a MMS remains with the organisation. The FMO will provide transactional support and reporting, they will also have an accountability to ensure vehicle custodians are advised, and reminded, that a service or safety inspection is due. But the business and its staff (not just managers and directors) need to ensure a MMS is in place, and it’s being followed.
One of the common traps for in-house workshops is over servicing. With limited resources and increasing costs, excessive servicing can add a significant amount to the annual fleet maintenance budget because you’ll need more technicians, and more parts.
To develop an appropriate service schedule, Fleet Managers should start with the manufacturer’s recommendations. It’s important to review with each new asset purchase because as technology changes so does the service schedules. Over the last decade the schedules for cars and trucks have been extended for 12 months. For plant and equipment, oil testing is a scientific way to determine the appropriate schedule for fluid replacements.
Risk assessments are another way to determine maintenance and servicing. Assets operating in extreme conditions, or at a higher intensity level, will require more frequent maintenance.
