Five ways small fleets can control maintenance costs

Travis Hunt, general manager for Ford Pro Parts and Service Transformation, has seen a disturbing trend among small businesses. Economic uncertainty is increasing at a time when costs are also climbing, putting enormous strain on company owners and the fleets they operate—particularly those in the construction, utilities, and food distribution industries.

Hunt pointed to a recent report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) that suggests inflation, labor costs, and taxes are all playing a role in driving down capital outlays. For those small businesses that have decided to defer new vehicle purchases, the risk of unplanned repairs on older vehicles is very real.

“That is why we have focused on shifting the conversation from ‘fixing what’s broken’ to ‘preventing it from breaking in the first place,’” Hunt said.

Ken Eggen, a veteran of the transportation industry, agrees 100% with that philosophy. Having spent 35-plus years running maintenance operations for large trucking fleets, Eggen said the same benefits of consistent preventive maintenance translate to fleets of any size and vehicle class.

“It is inevitable that we are going to perform maintenance on our equipment at some point,” said Eggen, who now runs his own commercial vehicle maintenance consulting business called K.M.E. Services. “The question is, will vehicle maintenance be under our control or out of our control? The heart of every fleet maintenance program is preventive maintenance.”

The following are five essential steps that can help small businesses get their preventive maintenance under control.

1. Set regular service intervals

With everything a small business has going on, vehicle maintenance can sometimes fall off the radar. Working with service partners to set up a schedule and actively manage it will help keep preventive maintenance front and center.

In the case of Ford Pro’s Maintenance Management service, Hunt said his team “can review, negotiate, and approve repair work on behalf of a fleet manager, all based on parameters they provide.”

He added users can set Ford Pro’s software “to automatically approve certain routine repairs while flagging others for manual review—a feature that is customizable for each fleet.”

When working with an independent repair shop, a small business could pursue the same objective of streamlining the estimate-approval process. Some fleet management software platforms, such as Fleetio, have functionality that allows fleets to establish preapproval policies with shops.

Additionally, some shops may be utilizing shop management software that allows for convenient two-way texting with customers for fast and easy estimate approval. Whatever the case, a small business should collaborate with their maintenance provider on how to best streamline and simplify the maintenance process.

2. Centralize service records

Consolidating service records in one place makes it easier to manage maintenance, plan ahead, and identify trends. When you’re operating multiple vehicles, fleet management software can help.

The trick is finding the right software with the right features that don’t cost too much. To that end, Ford offers its Pro Fleet Management software that’s designed specifically for small and medium-size businesses, and helps create and assign digital work orders at more than 90,000 in-network service providers and tracks total cost of ownership over the life of a pickup or van.

The software’s ability to digitize vehicle repair records also “allows small businesses to move away from cumbersome paperwork and maintain all their service records in one easily accessible place,” Hunt said.

Digitizing brings another big advantage: inventory management. Ford Pro notes its system allows a manager to enter a VIN and get access to vehicle specs to verify the right repair parts are ordered.

Likewise, independent repair shops may be utilizing shop software that allows them to centralize service records for their individual customers. Again, small businesses should collaborate with their maintenance partner on how best to store, access, and manage this vital information.

3. Bring service to you

Partnering with a mobile service provider not only helps ensure that preventive maintenance gets done, but can also save a small business considerable time in the process.

“One of the main barriers to proactive maintenance is that businesses have to take time out of their day to visit a service center,” Hunt said. “Mobile service can save a business up to three hours per repair.”

This can be crucial for small businesses such as landscapers or HVAC contractors, where you don’t want your highly trained employee burning daylight in a repair shop lobby versus fixing a commercial customer’s air conditioning.

“With Ford Mobile Service, I went from having to take at least a half day off work to only being down for an hour at lunch,” said Tad Bender, an equine veterinarian and partner at Ocean Hill Equine Medical Group in Escondido, Calif. “I put a lot of miles on my truck, and vehicle maintenance comes up awfully quick. In a business where every minute counts, minimizing downtime is incredibly important to me.”

According to Hunt, some Ford Pro dealers offer mobile service after hours, bringing on-the-job downtime to zero for their small business customers. These are all reasons why Ford Pro has seen growing interest in Ford Mobile Service. In fact, Ford Mobile Service repairs more than doubled to over 2 million repairs in 2024, Hunt pointed out.

4. Tap into telematics

You don’t need to be a 500-truck carrier to leverage telematics data; there are plenty of solutions offering real-time visibility into the health of your fleet vehicles even if you don’t need to worry about Hours of Service. Azuga, Teletrac Navman, and Verizon Connect are a few of the dozens of low-cost solutions to help fleets track GPS location, maintenance, driver behavior, and more.

The value of detecting a check engine light or TPMS problem early and fixing it at the fleet’s preferred time versus a roadside repair more than makes up for the subscription fee.

As an example, Ford Pro’s software-to-service ecosystem identifies and flags diagnostic issues through Ford’s Telematics Software to help catch issues early and get service scheduled.

“If a warning light is illuminated on the dash, business owners can see it within their dashboard or Drive App,” Hunt said. “This means they are no longer solely dependent on a driver to report an issue with the vehicle.”

Hunt said telematics data becomes much more actionable when it is easy to access. In the case of Ford Pro, vehicles MY2020 and newer have a built-in modem. That allows a direct, hardware-free connection to Ford software. Ford Pro Telematics is also available on older Ford models and non-Ford vehicles through a plug-in device.

Several telematics providers also provide dash cams to enable video telematics. This is huge for small fleets where driving is secondary to providing an actual service. They can monitor speeding and harsh braking to prevent risky driving, but also capture evidence to exonerate your drivers if someone targets your commercial vehicle in a staged accident.

5. Choose the right service partner

Small businesses that look to go outside service partners have a lot of choices, including dealerships, independent shops, and even companies specializing in mobile service. Hunt said it’s important to choose a partner that not only understands all aspects of your vehicles from a physical standpoint, but also a digital one.

He pitched Ford Pro’s Elite Commercial Service Centers due to their “expertise in connected vehicle technology.”

“Once the vehicle owner activates the modem in their vehicle, a Ford Pro Elite Center can utilize that vehicle’s data to understand the repairs needed today, and anticipate the repairs they’ll need to get ahead tomorrow,” Hunt explained.

That’s what preventive fleet maintenance is all about, which is why it’s one of the easier areas for a small business to control costs.

“A preventive maintenance program doesn’t just extend the life of fleet vehicles,” Hunt said. “Preventive maintenance helps avoid surprise repairs, protect the bottom line, and keep a small business moving forward.”