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Preventive maintenance is one of the most highly recommended maintenance practices for those who own and manage a corporate vehicle fleet. So, what is preventive maintenance? Learn about its definition, the importance of preventive management, the steps involved, and how a GPS tracker can support the preventive maintenance process in the following article.
What Is Preventive Maintenance?
In Indonesian, preventive maintenance can be translated as “preventive maintenance” or “preventive upkeep.” As the name suggests, preventive maintenance is a vehicle maintenance strategy carried out regularly to prevent unexpected breakdowns or failures.
Unlike corrective maintenance (repairs after breakdowns), this management strategy aims to keep vehicles in optimal condition to support operational processes.
The Importance of Preventive Maintenance for Fleets
There are many reasons why preventive maintenance is essential. Some of them include:
1. Reducing unexpected breakdowns
With preventive maintenance in place, the condition of the engine and other vehicle components is continuously monitored and maintained. This significantly reduces the risk of breakdowns on the road caused by unexpected failures of specific components.
2. Avoiding regulatory violations
Well-maintained vehicle and component conditions make it easier for you to handle regulatory requirements such as roadworthiness inspections (KIR tests). As a result, the risk of delivery delays due to sudden inspections or road checks can be reduced.
3. Extending vehicle lifespan
With regular inspections and monitoring, vehicles are protected from sudden major damage. This naturally helps all vehicle components last longer and minimise major repair costs, such as part replacements.
4. Improving long-term efficiency
For companies managing hundreds of vehicles, there is a risk of significant costs if breakdowns occur repeatedly. Regular maintenance will naturally reduce costs and ultimately improve operational efficiency.
5. Ensuring driver and operational safety
Vehicle breakdowns have a direct impact on driver safety as well as delivery operations. Preventive maintenance will reduce both risks, as faults and issues can be identified and addressed earlier.
Types of Preventive Maintenance
There are three types of preventive maintenance based on the approach or determining factors.
1. Scheduled Maintenance: Maintenance carried out based on determining factors such as mileage, vehicle age, or specific time intervals.
Example: Oil changes every 5,000 km, brake inspections every 6 months, or an annual major service.
2. Predictive Maintenance: Maintenance carried out using sensor data and telematics technology to analyse when a vehicle needs servicing.
Example: A fleet management system that can detect engine overheating, brake wear, or battery issues.
3. Regulatory Maintenance: Mandatory maintenance carried out to comply with safety standards and government regulations.
Example: KIR inspections, emission tests, and compliance checks for public transport/logistics standards.
6 Steps for Effective Preventive Vehicle Maintenance Management
Steps of Preventive Maintenance
As a business owner or fleet manager, you already have detailed vehicle data, including full specifications. Next, you can follow the steps below to optimise preventive maintenance effectively.
1. Create a regular maintenance schedule
The first step you should take is to plan routine maintenance that is recommended or required. You can schedule maintenance based on mileage, specific time intervals, or in accordance with applicable regulations.
Mileage-based maintenance, for example, includes oil changes which are ideally done every 5,000 km and brake inspections every 10,000 km. Meanwhile, time-based or regulation-based scheduling includes requirements such as KIR inspections, which must be carried out every 6 months.
2. Use a Daily Driver Checklist
In addition to inspections and scheduled routine maintenance, you should also implement a daily driver checklist. This is intended to address “minor” issues that are better handled immediately before they develop into major damage.
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Ensure that the engine oil level is sufficient and that there are no leaks.
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Check the radiator water and coolant to prevent overheating.
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Ensure tyre pressure and condition are checked, including the spare tyre.
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Check the vehicle lights, including headlights, brake lights, indicators, and hazard lights, to ensure they are all functioning properly.
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Test the brakes and steering response.
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Check the wipers and windshield washer fluid for use during rainy conditions.
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Check the engine temperature on the dashboard to ensure it is not overheating.
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Listen for unusual engine sounds and vibrations.
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Check for leaks and physical damage.
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Report any issues to the operations team.
3. Take advantage of GPS & Telematics technology
Furthermore, you can also take advantage of GPS and telematics technology, such as that offered by Cartrack. In addition to vehicle tracking, you'll also receive data related to driving habits, which can impact your vehicle's condition.
Data such as harsh braking, sharp cornering, as well as various sensors like fuel sensors and others can be used as evaluation inputs. This also allows you to provide training for drivers to encourage safer and more careful driving behaviour.
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4. Record and Evaluate Maintenance History
It is important that you document the vehicle's maintenance history because by doing so, you can find out what has been problematic. Vehicles that have experienced replacement parts and suffered major damage are also important to be recorded.
Thus, you can identify the problem more easily, especially on those vehicles that have previously undergone major repairs. You can also anticipate damage by applying special treatment to the vehicle.
5. Implement Driver Training
Driving behaviour is closely linked to vehicle condition and driver safety. If issues arise due to poor driving habits, the company will inevitably experience significant operational losses.
As part of preventive maintenance, you can provide driver training on safe and proper driving practices. You can also evaluate performance based on data from GPS and telematics systems such as Cartrack.
Advantages of Preventive Maintenance with Cartrack
One way to take advantage of the preventive maintenance steps above is to utilise GPS tracking and telematics. This time, we'll discuss how Cartrack's GPS tracking and telematics can actually help you.
1. Detecting driving behaviour
As mentioned earlier, driving behaviour greatly affects the condition of operational fleet vehicles. GPS tracking technology provided by telematics fleet management companies such as Cartrack can help you record important data during driving.
For example, GPS Tracking will record important information such as sharp turns, sudden braking, speeding, and so on. You can also utilize LiveVision and SmartCabin solutions with AI technology to detect drivers who are drowsy, using cell phones, or smoking.
2. Monitoring data-based vehicle maintenance schedules
With Cartrack telematics, you can also monitor vehicle status, schedule downtime, and set various reminders. You can create reminders based on mileage or specific time intervals, ensuring that routine inspections and mandatory regulatory requirements are carried out on time.
Some of the items you can schedule include oil changes, driving licence renewals, vehicle registration renewals (STNK), KIR inspections, tyre replacements, and vehicle repairs. You can also schedule routine inspections and receive repair requests from drivers, allowing you to plan downtime and manage the availability of other vehicles.
3. Reducing downtime with early alerts
When managing hundreds of vehicles with tight delivery schedules, downtime frequency will inevitably have a significant impact on operations. Whether downtime is due to repairs, routine inspections, or regulatory compliance, all of it must be properly planned to avoid disrupting operations.
By utilising Cartrack's telematics and Maintenance features, downtime can be scheduled more regularly and minimized. The Reminder feature allows you to receive reminders about downtime so you can reschedule your deliveries to exclude vehicles due for repair.
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