5 steps to solving root causes and increase uptime

Here are five key insights we’re seeing in the field on what’s slowing uptime—and how to fix it. 

1. Downtime usually starts long before a failure

A breakdown may seem sudden, but in most cases, it didn’t come out of nowhere. One of the most common root causes we see is a lack of timely preventive maintenance—especially leading into cold weather seasons. Skipping or delaying preventive maintenance can set the stage for failures that sideline a fleet at the worst possible time.

Driver behavior also plays a bigger role than many realize. Fleets that monitor habits like hard braking, cruise control usage, and speeding—behaviors that directly contribute to vehicle wear and tear—tend to see fewer breakdowns. Fleets that are more successful with preventative maintenance tie driver incentives to safety metrics, resulting in the double bonus of safe driving and preventative practices that can lead to improved vehicle performance. 

2. More data isn’t the answer—better data is

Fleets today are collecting more data than ever, but not all of it is actionable. The challenge is separating what’s useful from what's irrelevant. The real value comes from spotting patterns and acting on the right information to make meaningful gains.

Vehicle maintenance reporting standards (VMRS) coding, unscheduled failure reports, and telematics can all reveal recurring issues—if you know where to look. For example, fleets can significantly reduce diesel exhaust system costs by building preventative cycles into their maintenance. This level of improvement happens when managers focus on high-confidence, high-cost indicators—not just chase every dashboard light. 

3. Don’t just treat the symptom—fix the pattern

There are a lot of repeat offenders that contribute to downtime, but sometimes the initial repair doesn’t solve it. Finding the root cause behind downtime means going beyond the initial failure. For example, maybe a leak was fixed, but the conditions that caused it weren’t.  

It is crucial to treat every unscheduled repair as a chance to learn and ask: was it repaired correctly the first time? Is this part of a larger trend? It’s critical to establish consistent diagnostic procedures, validate that repairs are correcting the issue, and close the loop with technician training or process updates when needed. 

4. Communication as an uptime driver

A fleet could have the best data in the world, but if the information doesn’t reach its technicians or frontline teams, it won’t make an impact. Technician communication can make or break a repair strategy.  

The most successful fleets build a strong line of communication from the front office to the shop floor. Technicians are often the first to notice repeat issues or emerging patterns, and when they’re current on failure trends, updated repair processes, and safety alerts, fleets can create a culture where information sharing leads to problem solving and smarter fixes.

5. Proactive fleets are changing the maintenance playbook

Fleets are creating a new playbook as they move away from reactive maintenance and toward smarter, more proactive strategies.

In the past, operators would often run a vehicle until something broke. With tighter delivery windows, more complex trucks, driver safety, and customer satisfaction on the line, that approach no longer works. Today, proactive fleets think about uptime in broad terms: not just repair costs, but lost revenue, missed deliveries, and dissatisfied drivers.

More fleet operators are rethinking what it means to run “lean” and asking whether short-term savings now could cost them tomorrow. This is a smart shift of mindset and one that’s raising the bar for the industry.

Where fleets go from here

There’s no silver bullet for uptime but there are patterns worth paying attention to—and steps every fleet can take. It starts with building a smarter foundation of mission-critical data, consistent communication, stronger diagnostics and a proactive mindset. When something does go wrong, dig deeper—not just to solve the problem, but to get to the root to ensure it doesn’t happen again. The real ROI lies in staying ahead of costly breakdowns and keeping more fleets on the road where they belong.