5 Fleet Maintenance Metrics to Track – and Why
5 Nov 2019There are some fleet maintenance metrics that are more important than others to track. That doesn’t mean they aren’t all-important – only that some can have a larger impact on overall performance and the life expectancy of fleet vehicles than others. These are five of the fleet maintenance metrics you need to track and why they are so important to the overall effectiveness of your fleet vehicles.
- Asset Utilization
This fleet management metric explains how often specific vehicles or pieces of equipment within your fleet are utilized.
Why is this important?
When you know which of your vehicles are getting the most use and which are being used little, if any, you understand where to allocate the bulk of your resources. And which pieces of equipment may be more cost-effective to rent on an as-needed basis rather than owning, storing, and maintaining.
- Fuel Management
This metric explains who well fleet vehicles are utilizing fuel, which ones are getting more mileage from their fuel, and where waste or inefficiencies are occurring.
Why does this matter?
Fuel is the single largest expense for many fleets. Especially those that operate over long distances day after day. The more your fleet spends on fuel, the fewer profits the fleet reels in. While some fuel costs are necessary and, in fact, essential, keeping those costs lower through fuel-efficiency efforts is crucial. These metrics can help you identify potential problem vehicles or drivers so you can address the problems.
- Mileage/Odometer Readings
It is always wise to keep track of mileage or odometer readings for all fleet vehicles. Some people are surprised to learn just how important the process is.
Why does this matter?
For many maintenance tasks, the odometer is the key indicator that these tasks are required. Keeping up with the mileage or odometer readings in fleet vehicles is essential for knowing when certain maintenance tasks are required.
- Equipment Downtime
Unscheduled downtime is an expense most fleets can’t easily recover from. It’s important to know how often your vehicles and other equipment are down so you can determine whether it’s time to consider upgrades or elimination of specific equipment or vehicles.
Why is this important?
Your equipment does you no good if it is unavailable whenever you need. Vehicles that are continuously experiencing breakdowns and other unscheduled downtime issues are ultimately costing your fleet money. Ideally, your equipment and vehicles will have 90 percent of better availability with no more than 10 percent of unplanned downtime to contend with.
- Scheduled Maintenance Compliance
This is the number of vehicles that are currently up-to-date and compliant with their maintenance needs.
Why does this metric matter?
Scheduled maintenance keeps vehicles operating at maximum efficiency. The more vehicles that are in compliance, the more vehicles you have in road-worthy condition. That means lower risks of breakdowns and maintenance-related accidents.
As you can see, these maintenance metrics through GPS fleet tracking give you an excellent snapshot of the condition of your vehicles and how they operate. Make sure you’re keeping an eye on them to help optimize overall fleet efficiency.
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