Since its inception, the editorial mission of Fleet Maintenance has been to provide a wide-ranging curriculum and best practices to help fleet maintenance managers and managers of independent repair facilities:
- Keep vehicles operating with greatest efficiency and minimal downtime.
- Improve their personal performance.
I am proud to point out that Fleet Maintenance remains the only publication to do so.
The publication, and its official website, VehicleServicePros.com, are: All maintenance, All management, All vehicle classes, All the time.
To ensure that we stay true to our editorial mission, we labor to remain close to our subscribers and readers. By doing so, Fleet Maintenance can always provide you with the vital information you need to more effectively perform your roles in purchasing and maintaining a safe, efficient and profitable fleet.
Added Pressures
As a consequence of more and more cost pressures being exerted on fleets, across all sectors of the transportation industry, the essential value of the fleet maintenance/repair shop manager has increased.
The reason being: as fleet operating costs continue to go up, the importance of wise up-front decisions in truck spec’ing and maintenance and repair to achieve greater operating efficiencies and a longer lifecycle has taken on greater significance.
Reader Involvement
One of the many methods Fleet Maintenance uses to stay close to its subscribers/readers is to regularly conduct subscriber/reader surveys and studies.
I thought some of the findings of a recent survey, done across Fleet Maintenance’s circulation, were worth sharing.
As I noted previously, our subscribers/readers operate vehicles in all vehicle classes across all sectors of fleets, including: common carrier, private fleets, construction and mining, food and beverage, petroleum, refuse and recycling, manufacturing and processing, retail and wholesale delivery, municipal and government, utilities and buses.
Vehicle class is determined by a vehicle’s gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). There are eight vehicles classes, categorized by Federal Highway Administration into three groups:
- Light Duty Vehicles
+ Class 1 – GVWR under 6,000 lbs.
+ Class 2 – GVWR of 6,001 to 10,000 lbs.
- Medium Duty Vehicles
+ Class 3 – GVWR of 10,001 to 14,000 lbs.
+ Class 4 – GVWR of 14,001 to 16,000 lbs.
+ Class 5 – GVWR of 16,001 to 19,500 lbs.
+ Class 6 – GVWR of 19,501 to 26,000 lbs.
- Heavy Duty Vehicles
+ Class 7 – GVWR of 26,001 to 33,000 lbs.
+ Class 8 – GVWR of greater than 33,001 lbs.
Industry Understanding
Here are some of the insights gleaned from that latest Fleet Maintenance subscriber/reader survey.
- Maintenance Work – When asked, “Do you have direct or supervisory influence over maintenance work?,” 94 percent of the survey respondents replied they did. Only 6 percent said they did not.
- Purchasing – The survey asked subscribers/readers about their role in purchasing new vehicles. Fifty four percent of the respondents said they were the decision maker; 44 percent said they were an influencer or part of a purchasing committee.
- Vehicle Selection – Another question asked respondents to rank a set of vehicle selection criteria in order of importance to them. This was their ranking, in order of most to least important:
1. Resale value.
2. Emission technology.
3. Driver satisfaction.
4. Underhood daily service features.
5. Fitness/uniqueness for intended application.
6. Past maintenance performance.
7. Ease of serviceability.
8. Warranty.
9. Service from the manufacturer or dealer.
10. Price.
- Vehicle Brand – There was a question that asked what factors would cause a change in their brands of vehicles. Here again, the criteria were listed in the question. The respondents’ ranking, in order of importance:
1. Excessive downtime/expensive maintenance record.
2. Shorter than expected vehicle life.
3. Tie: poor warranty experience and poor dealer service.
4. Poor resale value.
- Engines – We asked what types of engines fleets are using. Not surprising, diesel topped the list. The next most widely used engines, in order, were: gasoline, flex-fuel, biodiesel and hybrid (all types).
Quality Information
Nowadays, fleet maintenance and independent repair facilities managers are being given expanded duties and responsibilities. At the same time, the complexity of vehicles and components, and the tools and equipment required to maintain and service them, continues to grow.
The upshot is that these managers are finding it increasingly difficult to stay current and knowledgeable. Yet, the need for quality, up-to-date information is crucial to their making well-thought out business decisions.
Be assured, with Fleet Maintenance’s insightful and timely editorial, along with the exclusive content and resources continually being added to the website, our subscribers/readers will constantly get the detailed, relevant information they need to keep vehicles operating with greatest efficiency and minimal downtime, plus improve their personal performance.
