A PM Schedule a Small Fleet Will Actually Follow

A fleet of three to fifteen trucks does not have a maintenance department. It has an owner who also dispatches, a lead driver who knows the trucks, and a spreadsheet that was started with good intentions. Preventive maintenance in that world fails for one reason: the plan was built for a fleet with a shop, and it was too much to keep up with. The trucks get serviced when something breaks, which is the most expensive way to do it.

Here is a structure that small fleets can actually run, and how mobile service in the yard fits into it.

Three levels, not thirty items

The industry has used a tiered structure for a long time, and it works because each level is short enough to remember. Call them A, B, and C.

• A service: the frequent one. Fluids checked and topped, grease, tire pressures and tread, lights, belts, hoses, air system drain and leak check, a look underneath. Short, often, and it catches most of what strands trucks.
• B service: the oil change interval. Everything in A, plus oil and filters, fuel filters, air filter check, brake adjustment and lining check, a look at the steering and suspension, battery test, and the engine codes read and logged.
• C service: the annual. Everything in B, plus the annual inspection items, transmission and differential fluids, cooling system service, wheel-end service, and anything the engine maker calls for at the longer interval.

The intervals depend on the engine, the duty cycle, and the miles. A truck that runs I-10 all day hits the miles fast. A dump truck that runs Pace and Milton job sites idles a lot and needs hours-based intervals. Set the intervals from the maker's recommendations and the truck's real use, then write them down where the dispatcher can see them.

The schedule that works is the one that is visible

A PM schedule in a filing cabinet is not a schedule. A whiteboard in the dispatch office with a row per truck, the last service date and miles, and the next one due is a schedule. So is a shared calendar, or a simple spreadsheet that gets opened every Monday. What matters is that the next service for every truck is visible to the person who assigns work, because that person is the only one who can make the truck available.

The truck that gets skipped is the one that is making money. It is also the one that will strand a load. The schedule has to be strong enough to pull a good truck off the road for a morning.

Yard days

The thing that makes PM stick for small fleets is bringing the service to the yard instead of sending the trucks to a shop. A mobile crew comes to the lot on a scheduled morning, works through the trucks that are due, and the trucks are back on the road that afternoon. No driver sitting at a shop, no truck out of the rotation for a day, no shuttle. Fleets on the panhandle set this up as a regular thing, weekly or biweekly depending on size, and the A and B services happen on those days. We described the model in Fleet Mobile Repair Across the Florida Panhandle and the cost side in What an Hour of Fleet Downtime Actually Costs.

What the driver does between services

The pre-trip is part of the PM program, not separate from it. A driver who walks the truck and writes down the low tire, the flickering light, and the belt squeal is feeding the schedule. Those items go on the list for the next yard day, and they get fixed before they become calls from the shoulder. The trucks with the fewest breakdowns are the ones where the driver's write-up actually gets read and acted on, and where the driver knows it will. Our post on The Pre-Trip Inspection That Prevents Most Breakdowns covers what the walkaround should include.

The records

Every service gets a record: date, miles or hours, what was done, what was found, and what was deferred. The regulations require it, an inspector may ask for it, and it is how you know when the next service is due. It is also how you catch the truck that eats a set of tires every few months or the one whose batteries never last. The records are the fleet's memory, and a small fleet without them is guessing. We covered what the file should contain in Maintenance Records.

Starting from nothing

If the fleet has no program, do not build the perfect one. Do an A service on every truck this month and write down what was found. That list is the first schedule. Set B intervals from the engine makers' numbers, put the next due date on the board, and book the first yard day. Everything else gets added as the fleet learns what its trucks need. A fleet service call to walk the yard and build that first list is a normal starting point.

Frequently asked questions

How often should a small fleet do an A service?

Frequently enough that it happens between oil changes more than once. Many fleets tie it to a mileage or a weekly or biweekly yard day. The engine and axle makers' intervals are the starting point.

Can PM services be done in my yard?

Yes. A, B, and most C items are done on site by a mobile crew, with the truck back in service the same day.

What if a truck is never in the yard?

Then the service happens where the truck is: a dock, a job site, a truck stop on its route. Mobile means mobile.

What is the first thing a fleet with no program should do?

Inspect every truck once and write down what was found. That list is the program.

Want to set up regular yard service for a fleet on the panhandle, or just get the trucks looked over once? Call Duckett Roadside Repair at (850) 495-0366. Dispatch is answered 24 hours a day.