5 Essential Summer Maintenance Checks for Your Fleet
Prepare your fleet for the summer with our essential maintenance checklist.
Winter driving can take a toll on your fleet. After a season of cold temperatures, ice, snow, and poor road conditions, it’s crucial to stay up to date on your fleet’s maintenance with a comprehensive summer service check. Doing so not only ensures your fleet is in peak condition for summer operations but also helps you avoid expensive surprises and downtime, enhancing productivity and cost-efficiency.
Whether your fleet is made up of EVs (electric vehicles) or ICE vehicles, we cover five things that should be on your maintenance checklist as you prepare for summer.
1. Correct Alignment
Ensuring proper tire alignment is essential for the optimal performance and longevity of your vehicles’ tires. Proper vehicle alignment improves handling, maximizes tire life, and can enhance fuel efficiency, which is critical for managing operational costs. Misalignment, on the other hand, causes uneven tire wear, poor handling, and reduced fuel economy, which negatively impacts vehicle performance.
Winter potholes are a common cause of misalignment, making it wise to check each vehicle’s alignment in the spring or summer.
“Alignment checks should be performed based on documented complaints, such as noticeable pulling identified by the driver or uneven tire wear.”
2. Tire Pressure
Temperature fluctuations can significantly affect tire pressure, impacting fuel efficiency and tire longevity. In winter, cold air contracts, reducing tire pressure, while in summer, warm air expands, potentially causing over-inflation. Both conditions can lead to increased wear, blowouts, and higher maintenance costs.
To maintain optimal tire condition and reduce the risk of blowouts and flats, have your drivers periodically check their tire pressure. Modern vehicles often have tire pressure monitors, but occasional manual checks are advisable to ensure accuracy.
“We recommend using full-service National Accounts for preventative maintenance inspections, as they provide courtesy inspections, check and correct tire inflation, and identify uneven tread wear that might indicate the need for an alignment.”
3. Brakes
Brakes are critical for the safety and efficiency of your vehicles. Detecting thinning brake pads early allows for timely replacement, preventing more costly repairs and ensuring your fleets remains safe and efficient on the road.
“Brake inspections are essential and should be incorporated into the best practice of using full-service National Accounts, as their courtesy inspections during routine preventative maintenance include brake checks. This practice ensures timely brake maintenance, which is especially important for EVs because they are heavier than their ICE counterparts.”
4. Battery
Winter conditions can strain vehicle batteries, reducing their lifespan and reliability. Most service facilities will perform a battery check during routine maintenance to ensure they are fully charged and in working condition. For ICE vehicles, batteries typically last between three to five years. If a vehicle struggles to start, it might be time for a replacement to avoid unexpected failures.
For EVs, cold weather reduces battery efficiency, while high summer temperatures can cause overheating. Regular battery checks and preventive measures, like parking in the shade and charging during cooler periods, can extend battery life and maintain fleet reliability.
5. Windshield
Cold weather can put a lot of stress on windshields, increasing the risk of cracks and chips. Inspect each vehicle’s windshield for damage and repair any minor issues before they worsen and require a replacement. Windshield replacements are costly, especially on vehicles with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).
Today, ADAS components such as collision mitigation, blind spot monitoring, and lane departure warning are standard equipment on many newer vehicles. While this technology helps to mitigate accidents and keep drivers safe, it includes expensive components that increase repair costs. In addition to the increase cost of the windshield itself, ADAS-equipped vehicles often require recalibration of the entire system which is an additional cost factor.
Make Maintenance a Part of Your Fleet’s Seasonal Routine
While fleet maintenance might not be the first thing that comes to mind when planning for summer operations, it is essential for keeping your vehicles in optimal condition and safe to drive. Engage your drivers to make maintenance a consistent practice. By incorporating these checks into your seasonal routine, you’ll enhance the efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness of your fleet, ensuring smooth and reliable summer operations.
Clients on Holman’s maintenance program have access to our National Account network of participating vendors. This means fleets, whether small or large, can benefit from an extensive network, thorough vehicle inspections, and standardized pricing for most preventative maintenance services like PMs, tires, and brakes. Implementing a tailored PM schedule based on your fleet’s specific applications, coupled with a driver policy that incentivizes or penalizes vehicle care, is key to effective maintenance.
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