It’s hard enough staying on top of required maintenance when you own just one or two vehicles. When you operate a fleet it becomes much more complicated. You want to keep your drivers safe and the vehicles legal while preventing breakdowns and maximizing availability. That means tracking time, mileage and condition and scheduling work for when it’s least inconvenient.
Fleet Vehicles Work Hard
A well-organized fleet maintenance program helps you meet these goals. To do this, we structure the fleet services we provide here at Bock Auto around a maintenance checklist. In addition to covering regular vehicle maintenance this addresses points that need particular attention when vehicles are part of a fleet.
Fleet vehicles lead a different life to those that are privately owned. With multiple drivers there’s not the same sense of ownership that goes with individual use. Small problems get overlooked and records may be incomplete. Plus, fleet vehicles often cover high mileages in the stop-go conditions that are especially tough on brakes, engines and transmissions. And around the Hamptons salt is another problem we have to watch for!
What the Checklist Achieves
No matter how well you know your job we can all forget to do something. A checklist ensures prevents this. It’s why pilots follow one before every flight.
Modern cars aren’t as complex as aircraft but they’re still composed of thousands of parts that are all expected to work when called upon. A checklist guides the vehicle technician in what to inspect, adjust and replace as he works on your vehicle. It also provides consistency because every tech will do the job the same way. That way you can be sure maintenance work is performed to the highest possible standard, no matter who actually works on your vehicles.
What’s in Our Fleet Maintenance Checklist
At Bock Auto we use our experience to tailor fleet maintenance services to the vehicle type and role. Delivery vans for example might need more attention to alignment and the condition of tie downs while cars used for weddings need an extra close eye on interior and exterior condition. This means there’s no “one-size-fits-all” checklist, but despite that they have much in common.
The key elements are:
- Mechanical inspection and servicing as dictated by mileage, age or condition. (This includes topping-off fluids and replacing filters.)
- Attend to any illuminated warning lights
- Inspect exterior and note points needing attention (lights and mirrors for example)
- Interior inspection, noting any items showing excessive wear or not working
- Inspect tires and look for indications of alignment problems
If we see anything that needs fixing we’ll let you know right away. In addition, when you get your vehicle back we’ll give you a full report on what we saw and what may need attention in the future.
Fleet Maintenance Experts
If you’re running a fleet of vehicles anywhere around the Hamptons NY, ask us about our fleet services. We’ll give your vehicles the attention they need to ensure safe and reliable operation.
