The trucking industry is dependent on both skilled drivers and excellent equipment. While a large part of keeping reliable equipment available is knowing when to replace worn-out machinery, even a simple maintenance routine can go a long way toward keeping older vehicles and parts in service for a long time. The better maintained your vehicles are, the more efficiently they will function, and the longer they’ll last for your business.

Your New Preventive Maintenance Plan

The purpose of preventive maintenance is to keep your vehicles working and catch problems before they become unmanageable. Fortunately, this is easy to accomplish with an effective maintenance schedule. Your routine should include:

1. Daily inspections
2. Periodic inspections and/or maintenance
3. Targeted repairs

1) Daily Inspections

At the beginning and end of each workday, give your haul truck a brief inspection for anything out of the ordinary or potentially problematic. Make sure to check each of the following features:

• Tires
• Windshield and windows
• Oil level
• Coolant level
• Seat belts
• Lights

In addition to these tests, walk around your truck once or twice and make sure everything looks alright. Is anything leaking? Is something stuck in the tire? Is the truck sitting level on the ground?

2) Periodic Inspections and/or Maintenance

Every so often, you’ll need to perform more intensive inspections on your truck. These less common inspections will include:

• Oil analysis
• Coolant analysis
• Wheel alignment
• Frame and body stability
• Filter cleanliness
• Battery charge
• Brake fluid levels
• Shock absorbers

Pro Tip: Set aside time every week to inspect your truck’s tires, oil levels, and other important parts of the vehicle body. Work such as replacing shock absorbers or checking wheel alignment can wait for the end of the month.

3) Targeted Repairs

As important as preventive maintenance is, any problems that surface between inspections should be addressed immediately. Delaying these repairs will only allow the problem to worsen and increase your maintenance costs further down the line. During your periodic inspections, if you find anything that impairs your vehicle’s functionality or safety, don’t use the vehicle until the issue has been taken care of. The potential cost in time, funds, and safety risk is simply not worth it.

Keep Your Vehicles Working

Your haul truck needs as much care as you do after a long day’s work. With predictive maintenance and daily care to keep your vehicle functioning, you can look forward to using your reliable truck for the foreseeable future.

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