How well are you maintaining your fleet? Every fleet vehicle needs specific diagnostic tests to be performed to ensure the vehicles are running at their best. Yet in the daily grind of working your business, it’s easy to overlook your fleet maintenance schedule. Today’s fleets need the help of fleet management programs to keep up with their diagnostic testing and ensure that necessary diagnostics are being performed.
Keeping your fleet on the road and functioning well can feel like a full-time occupation. Unfortunately, many problems with vehicles cannot be seen until they cause a costly breakdown or other problem. This is why diagnostic testing is so important.
Diagnostic testing provides insight into the function and repair of the major systems in your vehicles. Tests can show, for example, that your battery is at the end of its life cycle, allowing you to replace it before you leave a driver stranded with a vehicle that won’t start. Diagnostics is a crucial component of any preventive maintenance program, because testing gives the insights necessary to be proactive about maintenance.
In addition, diagnostics before performing a repair saves time and money by ensuring an accurate identification of the problem. This allows the repair to be effective, getting your vehicle back on the road faster and fully functional, with less downtime.
Which diagnostic tests are the most important for your fleet vehicles? It’s best to test all major components, but some are more important than others. As you choose the right fleet diagnostic tests for your vehicles, consider these:
• Battery check
• Voltage drop test
• Charging system check
• Ignition timing test
• Primary and secondary ignition checks
• Pressure test for cooling system, hoses and belts
• Starter draw test
• Fuel system test
• Exhaust system test
• Emissions control test
How often you perform these tasks will depend on the overall use of your vehicles and the type of vehicles in your fleet. Some tests are done annually, while others need to be performed more frequently. Talk to your maintenance team about the best timetable for these important testing procedures.
One of the reasons that fleet upkeep testing doesn’t happen in many fleets is because the fleet manager is so busy dealing with other important aspects of running a fleet, that the testing gets overlooked. Use your tracking system to keep tabs on your fleet maintenance schedule, allowing it to send alerts when maintenance is due. This will ensure you always get your vehicles in for the right tests on time.
Track Your Truck’s fleet management system sets up maintenance alerts that will notify you when it is time for diagnostic testing and preventative maintenance. This ensures you never forget an important service. Contact Track Your Truck today to find out how our fleet tracking system can ensure your diagnostic testing is done on time, while also giving you crucial insight into the overall use and function of your fleet.
