Did you know that you could possibly be overservicing your trucks and fleet vehicles if you don't have the proper vehicle insights? Without accurately knowing your vehicle’s usage and engine hours, and just servicing off a set calendar date, you're probably overservicing your fleet vehicles and wasting money.
This FAQ page is breaking down overservicing and how Cartrack can help you gain complete visibility on your fleet so you're scheduling maintenance only when you need to.
There are two ways you can tell if you're overservicing your truck. First is if you're paying for maintenance and parts more frequently than the manufacturer requires. Second is if you're only scheduling your truck for a service based on mileage or manufacturer-recommended dates and not usage metrics and engine hours.
The downsides of excessive truck servicing are:
When you frequently overservice your truck, you are at risk for an increase in vehicle failure caused by human error. This is because constant disassembly and reassembly can cause parts and threads to wear out faster. Additionally, it runs up your fleet costs.
Oil changes and replacements of air, cabin, and fuel filters are all common truck maintenance services that are often done based on fixed calendar schedules. These are often done early and unnecessarily because maintenance is based off fixed dates and not on actual vehicle use.
Heavy commercial vehicles in South Africa are generally recommended to have their truck service intervals between 20,000 km and 40,000 km for minor services (roughly 250 to 500 engine operating hours). For major service intervals, it’s about 60,000 km to 100,000 km; this depends on OEM specifications and load conditions.
To avoid overspending, implement preventative maintenance strategies. This includes having your drivers do pre- and post-job checks on their vehicles and accurately monitoring each vehicle's health and condition. This is how you’ll truly know if a truck needs maintenance or a service done.
Cartrack’s fleet management system can help you prevent overservicing by giving you complete visibility of your vehicle’s health. It accurately monitors your vehicle’s health through its CANBus and sends you immediate alerts for any problems. This will prevent you from overservicing because you’ll know exactly when a truck needs servicing.
The right time to stop servicing and get a new truck is when the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and maintenance cost per kilometre go beyond the truck’s earning capacity. If you're servicing your truck more than it’s on the road, it’ll be cheaper for you to get a new truck that requires less maintenance.
Preventative maintenance: This is when you're proactively monitoring vehicle health and use and schedule maintenance as soon as an issue is spotted before it causes a breakdown.
Overservicing: This is when you schedule maintenance for vehicles frequently or before they actually need it.
Yes, overservicing can hurt a commercial truck’s performance and resale value. This is because constant disassembling and reassembling of parts can wear out the parts of the vehicle, affecting its performance and ultimately its resale value.
Used Oil Analysis (UOA) checks key fluid parameters such as viscosity, soot loading, fuel dilution, oxidation, moisture, and wear-metal concentrations (iron, copper, and aluminium) to assess the lubricant and engine’s chemical health. These insights prevent unnecessary oil changes and overservicing.
The financial cost of 1 day of unnecessary truck downtime in South Africa will vary from fleet to fleet. You need to add up the following costs:
