Preventive Maintenance of Commercial Vehicles: Act Before It Is Too Late

"Only a well-oiled machine runs smoothly," said author Ron Kaufman and rightly so. Commercial vehicles deliver some of the most essential goods and services to consumers across the country. Periodical maintenance of such vehicles ensures smooth functioning of all its parts while also helping operators to keep their promise of timely and safe delivery to customers. Unexpected breakdown increases downtime, decreases the number of trips, affects timely delivery, and sometimes attracts penalties due to delay, thereby affecting overall revenues. In this blog, we will learn how adherence to preventive maintenance schedules can benefit drivers and ensure profitable business for customers.

Why do you need scheduled maintenance?

If a vehicle isn't giving any trouble on the face, it doesn’t mean it is in the best health. Regular wear-and-tear are normal occurrences for any machine that runs for a longer duration and commercial vehicles are no different. But with recent complex technological advancements, the need for regular maintenance of these vehicles has become indispensable. And that’s where preventive maintenance helps by spotting any defects and fixing them before it leads to severe damages.

For example, while normal wear disturbs the recommended clearances between moving parts and requires a reset, components like filters (which absorb impurities and dust particles) may affect the free flow of air, fuel, and lubricating oils. These filters need to be replaced at every 60,000 km. These kinds of checks reset, and replacements form the major portion of preventive maintenance at scheduled intervals. Similarly, "in-built telematics’ is a technological addition to vehicles to facilitate two-way communication. It provides information to the fleet managers or customers of driver-wise and route-wise performances, defects in any parts of the vehicle, etc. By keeping track of these data, all issues can be fixed during scheduled maintenance, thereby improving uptime.

Some other aspects that can be noted during scheduled maintenance include a comprehensive exhaust after-treatment system (EATS) and timely regeneration. While the former treats exhaust emissions with diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) before it reaches the atmosphere, the latter enables the emission of cleaner exhaust gases. Both the procedures have a direct role in contributing to a cleaner environment. Now, this is something that should not be missed at any cost.

"Prevention is better than cure" should be the motto

The word ‘preventive’ itself indicates the whole idea of having such a schedule. It can "prevent" every vehicle from any unforeseen damage and has the following benefits:

• Increases efficiency
• Decreases breakdown risks
• Extends the vehicle’s lifespan
• Boosts revenue

A vehicle that is not well-maintained always stands a chance to break down while on the road. Eicher’s"Service Reminder Module" helps in reminding customers of the periodical service dues well in advance so that they don’t miss any. Moreover, every time a vehicle reports to any authorized workshop, the "Vehicle Inspection Sheet" is used to identify any additional defects and fix them. Ensuring all our vehicles are up and running has always been our endeavour.