Every car requires a frequent service schedule. This can often be every 1-2 years depending on the vehicle, the model, its age, its usage and more.

However, this is the standard for personal vehicles and doesn’t account for commercial usage. Texas fleet repair is a service schedule that is hyper-vigilant and proactive in its inspections of your vehicles.

As commercial vehicles have adjusted usage and requirements, it’s vital to ensure they’re being kept healthy and on the road. This increases the safety of your staff, customers and other road users as well as overall business efficiency.

A good Texas fleet repair service will use a preventive approach to maintenance. In doing so, it will make sure that costly reactive repairs don’t occur. In this article, we’re bringing a guide to fleet maintenance from ensuring FMCSA checks pass to setting up a reliable fleet maintenance program.

1.    What is the FMCSA?

The FMCSA is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The Administration was formed as part of the Department of Transportation in 2000 to help prevent fatalities and injuries that have been caused in-part by commercial and fleet vehicles.

To pursue a reliable fleet maintenance schedule with a trusted workshop, it’s important to understand regulation enforced for commercial vehicles throughout Texas and the rest of the States.

All regulation can be found on fmcsa.dot.gov. As an overview, they expect commercial vehicles to have fleet maintenance schedules that prevent break-down during operation.

2.    Types of Fleet Maintenance

a.    Commercial

A commercial fleet will often have an array of vehicles with alternate components which require extended Texas fleet repair checks. With this, they require full-service maintenance programs.

b.    Delivery

Delivery fleets (such as grocery shopping deliveries or postal deliveries) may require additional vehicle specifications to ensure safe usage such as refrigeration features. It’s best to check the manufacturer’s service schedule.

c.    Transport

From taxi cabs to rental trucks, these vehicles are very customer-focused and fleet maintenance checks are required to be more customer-focused, too. For example, placing a higher safety check on additional airbags.

d.    Trucking

These fleet vehicles will have additional tires, increased specification requirements and additional towing components requiring attention during maintenance checks.

3.    Benefits of Fleet Maintenance

Maximizing fleet operations is a vital goal in commercial vehicle usage. By beginning a fleet maintenance schedule with ASE-certified mechanics and engineers, business vehicles can receive checks that can lead to preventative care and repair. This takes away the need for costly repairs that can increase downtime as well as potential injuries to staff, passengers or other road users.

Not only does enrolling in a new maintenance schedule ensure your fleet remains FMCSA compliant, but there are other benefits, too. For example:

·     It extends equipment lifespan

·     It increases operation safety

·     It ensures healthy business progression

·     It optimizes fuel consumption

·     It improves vehicle component efficiency

·     It decreases Texas fleet repair costs

·     It halts downtime requirements

·     It enables component wear tracking

·     It maintains vehicle ROI

·     It keeps other road users safe

·     It reduces overall liability

·     It improves customer service

4.    How To Set Up a Fleet Maintenance Program

The first step to setting up a reliable fleet maintenance schedule is to contact your local vehicle repair shop.

When you tell them about your fleet and requirements, they’ll be able to direct you on the type of fleet maintenance you’ll require, the frequency, the costs and the maintenance program they’ll undertake (including exactly how it’ll benefit your business). In fact, that’s exactly what our team here at Dealership Autoplex Collision Center will do.

Reach out to the team through our website, by email or on the phone at (972) 242-0092. Alternatively, give us a holla by visiting the shop here in Carrollton, TX. 

And that’s our guide to fleet maintenance from the team here at Dealership Autoplex Collision Centre. To learn more about preventative care for your fleet, read our other article “Why and How to manage Urgent fleet Repair”.