Leading Fleets, Vol. 9, 2016

14 LEADING FLEETS VOL 9 2016 M aintenance may not be one of the most glamorous aspects of running a fleet but its certainly one of the most valuable investments a fleet can make it keeps vehicles safe compliant on the road and extends vehicle life If youre not paying attention to maintenance youre doing your fleet a disservice But maintenance is about more than deciding which service should be performed when For large complex fleets the way maintenance is managed can be the difference between a successful program and a dysfunctional one So its important to understand the differences between a centralized and decentralized program Centralized vs Decentralized In a decentralized fleet maintenance program maintenance for large fleets spanning multiple cities and states is managed at the local level and often by individuals whose core specialty is not in maintenance In this model every city has its own processes its own service providers its own standards its own billing procedures Nothing is standardized everyone simply does their own thing When fleet maintenance is decentralized and individual general managers or business owners own fleet maintenance we find that quality is an issue compliance is an issue and cost is an issue because in some cases you have hundreds of different people touching the maintenance piece says Bob Brauer president Amerit Fleet Solutions With so many moving parts and inconsistencies a decentralized maintenance program can be chaotic Local managers can miss out on fleet wide efficiencies and have no way of guaranteeing vehicles are properly maintained or stay compliant And without someone with expertise in maintenance someone who understands its importance and champions the program it simply might not get done If youre a corporate fleet person you understand that shortchanging your maintenance program doesnt make sense for your fleet on the long term A local guy trying to sell a product doesnt really care about those things Hes trying to get product out the door and meet a budget rather than worry about whether tires need to be changed or if a vehicle is DOT compliant Brauer says Its counterproductive because if a fleet goes out of compliance or the assets deteriorate its likely their costs are going to rise their downtime is going to increase and its ultimately going to cost the company more money Now imagine a single company is in charge of maintenance Its sole focus is ensuring your maintenance program is running its best and vehicles are properly cared for Thats a centralized program In this model such as that used by Amerit Fleet Solutions an expert oversees maintenance across the entire fleet ensuring it is completed in a timely manner and vehicles are on the road and compliant What to Expect from Centralization Better Data Better Reporting In a decentralized program multiple people update data in multiple systems making it hard to understand fleet wide maintenance trends or even get consistent complete data from vehicle to vehicle With a centralized maintenance program youll have a single platform to access data for every unit in your fleet When everyone is on a single platform you can consolidate the data view trends across the entire fleet and get reports for any and all vehicles Weve invested a lot of money to make sure our customers have online portals to access data and to provide live information from the shop floor they can view at any given time Brauer says Most fleets that handle maintenance themselves or are decentralized do not have that Sometimes we see that their technology is severely outdated but usually we see inconsistencies in data and recordkeeping We also often find that there is no data at all because the local manager has chosen multiple small third party vendors and those vendors Centralizing Fleet Maintenance Sharpening the Focus If your fleet maintenance program is managed at the local level your vehicles and your company may not be getting the service they deserve and might not be compliant either A centralized fleet maintenance program can calm the chaos bringing your fleet into focus