But did you know that you can reduce your downtime by 20% just by introducing a simple preventive maintenance program?

In hindsight, a simple process upgrade can reduce your fleet downtime and maintenance cost, while increasing your vehicle lifespan. Find out the best deals at this semi truck auction.

How do you do it?

Enter commercial vehicle maintenance checklists.

Read on to learn how they help businesses reduce their operational costs and vehicle downtime, extend vehicles’ lifespan and help you stay compliant with safety regulations.

What Is A Commercial Vehicle Maintenance Checklist?

Commercial vehicle maintenance checklist is a paper-based or electronic form that consists of items that truck drivers, mechanics and other relevant parties must inspect in order to ensure reliable functioning of a commercial vehicle.

Commercial vehicle maintenance checklists differ depending on the particular vehicle and usage pattern.

These checklists allow transport businesses and fleet managers to schedule maintenance and repairs before the vehicle(s) leave for transportation duties and, in doing so, avoid breakdowns.

They also make sure transport companies run their business smoothly and save time, money and effort.

4 Commercial Vehicle Maintenance Fundamentals That Should Inform Your Checklist

Vehicle maintenance programs are highly important in any business that relies on operating commercial vehicles and whose uninterrupted functioning keeps these businesses stable and profitable.

When making your checklist, consider these four fundamental elements that determine how successful your vehicle maintenance will be.

1. Preventive Maintenance Checklist

A preventive maintenance program helps enterprises get the most value and service out of the vehicle.

This type of commercial vehicle maintenance tries to anticipate issues before they occur and plan how they should be fixed before they turn severe.

Preventive maintenance checklist and program should, therefore, include the manufacturer’s recommendations on vehicle maintenance and the approximate time when persons responsible should perform it.

The rest of the truck maintenance checklist will differ depending on the type of vehicle and its specifications.

Some of the typical items on preventive maintenance checklist include:

• Oil changes
• Filter changes
• Components tightening
• Tuning of the engine
• Brake fixing
• Tire rotation
• Lubrication
• Radiator maintenance

2. Demand Maintenance Checklist

Demand maintenance is the type of maintenance that transportation businesses perform only when there is a need for it.

This means replacing or fixing certain truck parts only when they break down and stop working properly. This can also happen after an independent inspection that determines the wear and tear situation on a truck.

Demand maintenance forms usually include items such as:

• Replacing light bulbs
• Replacing springs
• Putting new window glass
• Retuning gauges
• Placing new window glasses
• Replacing seat cushions
• New engine and transmission
• New batteries
• Replacing corroded or deteriorated structures

3. Crisis Maintenance Checklist

Crisis maintenance usually occurs when preventive and demand maintenance slip by and never happen.

This is the type of maintenance that is performed when a truck breaks down on the road due to the sudden failure of one or many components.

This usually means sending a replacement vehicle so that the driver can continue his trip to the delivery point and dispatching a mechanic to repair the vehicle on the spot.

Businesses should try and avoid having to go through crisis maintenance because they incur the additional cost of:

• The time needed to organize necessary repair procedure and reroute deliveries
• Driver’s downtime
• Hire of an outside mechanic, if the business doesn’t have one in-house
• Purchase of new parts to replace damaged ones with

4. Maintenance Form Records

The three types of commercial vehicle maintenance above underline the importance of having an up-to-date record-keeping program that checklist records can provide.

Maintenance checklist forms, such as those doForms can provide, must:

• Stay current
• Record meaningful data
• Identify the vehicle clearly
• Go through periodical reviews