Ways to improve maintenance planning and scheduling

This article provides readers with advice to improve the maintenance procedures for vans and lorries such as having a dedicated manager, keeping up to date with regular checks to ensure issues are noticed ahead of time, and planning ahead.

The supply chain and related delivery schedules are often precise and machine-like operations where one error can impact the whole chain. Plus, if you have multiple lorries and vans within the schedule, this adds an additional layer of items that need management and that can go wrong.

If your lorries or vans have last-minute mechanical issues, it’s likely to interrupt your carefully planned delivery schedule, including the increased chance some orders won’t be delivered. This can negatively impact customer satisfaction, perceived reliability and potentially revenue if there are ongoing issues.

One of the main ways to avoid mechanical issues from occurring and repeating is through effective and ongoing maintenance planning and scheduling for all vehicles. Here are some tips on moving to proactive maintenance and preventing ongoing problems.

Tip 1: Have a specific role for maintenance Having an employee within your organisation whose job is dedicated to the maintenance of all vans and lorries is a great way to guarantee proper maintenance. Your fleet manager or delivery manager already has a number of duties such as scheduling jobs and therefore maintenance may not be top of their priority list.

An individual focused on maintenance management, such as a commercial vehicle technician or maintenance controller, will help ensure all vehicle upkeep is continuous and proactive, instead of reactive to any issues. Having routine checks and someone who is aware of any and all maintenance issues, no matter how small, can prevent vehicle downtime and save money in the long run.

Tip 2: Plan ahead Balancing maintenance and delivery schedules isn’t always easy but planning ahead is key to finding a good balance. This allows for any potential delays in deliveries or timing conflicts to be identified early and managed as well as possible. For example, if a van needs to have its annual service and MOT in 2 weeks, as a business, you could either hire an extra van for the day or reschedule the deliveries/shift the deliveries onto a different schedule temporarily.

Using job planning software makes it easy to change the current schedule and see the best way to move jobs to create the optimal route.

Tip 3: Ongoing checks Carrying out regular vehicle inspections is key for improving maintenance and maintenance schedules. By asking drivers to participate, these regular checks help identify potential issues before becoming real problems and also spreads the responsibility of maintenance to drivers. This can help create a positive culture and working relationship between the drivers and maintenance team where everyone understands their role in vehicle upkeep and why it matters.

Having vehicle inspection software, such as within an EPOD system, is extremely helpful when managing regular maintenance checks. Drivers can run through a checklist on their lorry or van before starting their delivery run and all information is fed straight to the back office and maintenance team. Any potential issues are highlighted early on, there is no paperwork involved but there is a log of all activity which can be tracked if needed.

Tip 4: Track maintenance data There are a number of maintenance metrics that every company should be tracking including inspection results, diagnostic codes and odometer readings. Tracking these metrics over a long period can help your business better understand when an issue might occur and how long the vehicle could be out of service. Data tracking should also include how long maintenance and issues take to repair. Having accurate information on this can help drive continuous performance and ensure accurate maintenance scheduling. In addition, this should also highlight where improvements can be made to reduce time on maintenance and increase the time vehicles are on the road.

Tip 5: Prioritise Although your business can work hard to only work proactively when it comes to maintenance, things do happen and unplanned tasks crop up. When this happens, prioritising is key. This includes considering maintenance over deliveries as well as unplanned maintenance over scheduled maintenance. All decisions should be based on the facts and the impact the decision has on the business and its schedules. Correct prioritisation is important in ensuring the right work is carried out at the right time and that all vehicles remain compliant and safe.

How TouchStar can help

If you’re looking to introduce a new vehicle inspection software, or want to integrate route planning and ongoing maintenance, TouchStar is on hand to help. Our EPOD software combines job planning, route optimisation and regular vehicle maintenance checks in one easy solution. Get in touch with our expert team today to find out more.