4 Solutions To Challenges Facing Today’s Commercial Fleets

Commercial fleets face industry challenges that make it difficult to drive profitability. Employee dissatisfaction, inefficiency and lagging cost control are common impediments to a healthy budget. The good news is that commercial fleets can implement solutions targeted to solving these challenges. The following four solutions may be the answers you need to take your profitability up a notch.

1. Prioritize Driver Comfort And Happiness

Make no mistake, driver satisfaction impacts your profitability. You need to be able to fill all of your seats, or else you’ll be left with unused trucks. In other words, you’ll be paying for vehicle upkeep while losing revenue generation opportunities. Be sure to choose trucks that drivers truly want to drive. Trucks with a sleek design, comfortable seats and modern technology are likely to attract new drivers and help with retaining your best employees. In one-on-one conversations with 138 North American truck drivers, in-cab satellite TV provider EpicVue found that perks such as larger sleeper cabs and updated in-cab equipment lead to greater job satisfaction, especially for younger drivers. You should also conduct your truck repairs at a service centre that’s welcoming to drivers. Truck dealerships that take care of your repairs should have a designated driver lounge and ideally offer amenities such as Wi-Fi and showers.

2. Outsource Complicated Repairs To An Expert

The expense of keeping in-house technicians up to speed on the latest repair procedures, trending issues and hard-to-diagnose problems can be immense. It’s far more cost efficient to outsource complicated repairs to an expert. Look for a truck dealership with a factory trained expert on staff – a technical manager. Technology moves faster than many mechanics can be trained. A technical manager should focus on training mechanics and helping them to fix challenging problems.

3. Choose A Service Centre With A Large Parts Inventory

Of course, no list of commercial fleet solutions is complete without addressing the issue of uptime. You don’t have time to wait for truck parts to ship when your truck is out of service and your drivers need to get back on the road. Every day of productivity lost is money taken away from your budget. The right truck dealership keeps a comprehensive inventory of parts so that it can make repairs quickly, maximizing your uptime. If it doesn’t have the part you need in stock, your dealership should do everything it can to have the part shipped overnight.

4. Practice Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance is a solution to two challenges: uptime and cost control. Unexpected breakdowns may require difficult repairs, meaning your trucks will be out of service for longer than your schedule permits. Plus, a roadside repair costs much more than bringing your truck to a service centre. By planning ahead with regularly scheduled maintenance, you reduce the risk of costly breakdowns. Taking control of your budget is sometimes a matter of having the right resources. By partnering with a dealership you trust, you can solve many of your fleet challenges. Combining a good dealership with your own foresight and planning is a critical part of enabling business growth.

Ready to learn how the right dealership helps you maximize your fleet’s uptime? Speak with an expert at Peterbilt Atlantic today.

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