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If you own a truck or trucks, you know the importance of regular maintenance inspections. But do you cringe in fear at the thought of being at the mercy of shop managers and technicians paid for their performance on a flat rate scale? Are you worried that techs are rushing through inspections and selling you parts replacements that are not really needed? If that is the case, you really need to consider researching other shops to find one that you feel you can trust.
If you feel unsure about what is found, get more involved in maintenance inspections by asking to see any faulty component that is found and get an explanation why it must be replaced. Most shops are interested in getting your drivers safely through their trips and will be happy to show you why something on your truck needs changing. But as long as there are trucks there will be the odd shop owner who is more interested in profit than safety and that should be taken as a warning sign.
Good shops need and want to earn your trust. Their techs are highly trained individuals who know how to carry out honest inspections and will demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Most will be using digital fleet inspection checklists and be very deliberate in their routine but imperative inspecting of your vehicles.
The best shops will be using fleet management software that tracks each truck in your fleet by VIN numbers and referring to each truck builder’s manufacturer’s specifications for maintenance inspections and recommended component life expectancies.
Something you may consider upselling, may in fact be consideration of not taking a chance on a truck part’s expected life end. Instead of risking the lives of drivers and the motoring public, shops have a responsibility to use a safety-first policy and are held accountable for doing so. If they don’t, they risk losing their business. Crashes occur every day in North America. Many are caused by driver behaviors such as speeding, following too close, and distraction. Others happen as a result of failure to perform proper maintenance inspections. No shop wants that to happen to your trucks.
Let’s be real here. Preventive maintenance inspections are designed and carried out to uncover potential issues before they become breakdowns or worse that cost a fleet in downtime which results in lost revenue and upset drivers who lose pay. And let’s not forget about disgruntled shippers and receivers who lose faith in your ability to complete pickups and deliveries on time. They’ll start shopping for a more dependable fleet to carry their goods. That’s not a situation you want to find yourself in.
Regular scheduled truck maintenance properly executed is proven to extend the life of your assets and increase resale value. Maintenance inspections and keeping records of them are invaluable documents when selling trucks. That’s where management software comes in. EMDECS by BrightOrder is the creator of great software that was developed over decades of interaction with maintenance and repair shops all over the world.
EMDECS streamlines workflows for shops and fleets. As technology changes EMDECS is frequently updated automatically and seamlessly to keep you on the cutting edge of change. The system can be accessed and operated with any internet device such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. It effortlessly handles vehicle appointment scheduling, check-ins, creates repair orders, tracks tech times, adds any parts needed directly to the RO, creates and emails invoices, and more. Trust a shop that uses EMDECS by BrightOrder for expert maintenance of your fleet. For a free demo contact BrightOrder.
And in answer to the question of upselling, yes and no. Yes, because it is the responsible handling of an inspection. And no, because it only happens if the shop tech and manager deem it necessary.
Happy motoring!
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