Preventive maintenance a fleet priority: Survey

BURLINGTON, N.J — Preventative maintenance (PM) is still top of mind for fleets, says a survey Arsenault Associates.

According to the survey, 56 percent of fleets that use maintenance software apply it to automate PM scheduling.

The survey also showed that a little less than 44 percent of fleets surveyed use software specifically designed for fleet maintenance. The survey reported that 16 percent use software like Word, Excel or Access, six percent use accounting or ERP software, and 33 percent use paper maintenance records.

More than 200 fleet executives, managers, and line staff took part in the survey, which is designed to assess the need, use, and efficiency of fleet management systems in the U.S.

Tire cost control came in at 29 percent further down the list of maintenance software priorities, with parts control and fuel consumption management landing at 27 percent.

CEO Charles Arsenault attributes the low ranking of fuel concerns to the fact that many fleet managers know that they can "maximize the MPG only so much through good maintenance practices, and that MPG depends largely on the quality and control of the drivers over whom they have little or no control."

30% of maintenance software users employ no other fleet technologies, but those that do:

* 28% use GPS/AVL systems

* 25% use automated fuel islands

* 15% use mobile/wireless communications systems

* 13% use middleware that integrates their program with accounting,
purchasing, payroll, and others

* 13% use automated tire pressure sensing systems

* 11% use automated parts ordering systems.