Firestone Direct can work with you to create a preventative maintenance plan that includes:
 

• Oil changes
• Tire maintenance and replacements
• Brake system maintenance
• Battery maintenance
• Fluid checks and top-ups
• Air filter health, including engine oil, fuel, and cabin air filters
• Telematics installations
• Vehicle inspections

As a mobile mechanic service, Firestone Direct can come to your fleet lot to do inspections and complete repairs in bulk. Keeping up with routine maintenance is the best way to keep your vehicles in good condition, catch any bigger issues, and plan for future repairs. A preventative maintenance system with Firestone Direct can help you:
 

• Save money
• Save time
• Maximize vehicle uptime
• Maximize your employee’s time
• Increase vehicle longevity
• Keep drivers safe
   

Preventative maintenance is key to managing risks to your fleet. Most routine maintenance can be planned for and scheduled ahead so it doesn’t interfere with working hours. In fact, planning ahead is the best way to reduce downtime and keep vehicles on the road when you need them most.

Hire a Fleet Manager

Managing a fleet isn’t something just anybody can jump into and be immediately successful. If you have the budget, hiring someone to take care of anything fleet-related is a smart move. From creating and managing the preventative maintenance plan to keeping up with industry compliance standards, a good fleet manager has a specific set of skills, the ability to come up with custom solutions and experience with vehicles in some capacity. That way, they can communicate with mechanics, drivers and other service experts to make the right decisions for your company.

Give Staff an Easy Way to Report Problems

Some vehicle issues can start out small and subtle. The people who drive the vehicle every day are the ones who are the most likely to notice before it snowballs into a much bigger repair job. Whether it’s spongy brakes, alignment issues, or abnormal tire wear, your staff should be able to report issues with ease in a way that will be addressed quickly. Whether that’s a digital log or an online form, make it easy for your staff to do their part. Not only will their input help keep your vehicles in good condition, but it will ensure they are safe to drive. 

Routine maintenance can reduce the frequency of serious repairs, but not all issues will be on a schedule. Your staff can help you catch issues that come up between service appointments.

Install Onboard Telematics
 

Telematics is a tool to monitor vehicles by using onboard diagnostics and GPS. This is especially useful for businesses with a fleet of vehicles that require special licenses beyond a basic driver’s license. Telematics has many benefits as part of fleet management, including:

• Improve driver safety: Monitor driver habits, such as braking style and speed, to pick up on patterns of unsafe practices that need to be addressed.
• Maintain compliance with government regulations: Make sure you’re adhering to legal requirements for your industry.
• Lower insurance premiums: When you can demonstrate consistent driver safety and vehicle maintenance, insurance providers will consider your business lower risk. 
• Improve fuel efficiency: Telematics can track driving behavior such as speeding, idling, inefficient routing, unauthorized vehicle use, and poor vehicle maintenance to find opportunities to improve fuel efficiency. 
• Track vehicle maintenance: Your preventative maintenance plan has the potential to be even more effective when you have telematics working to pinpoint exactly where you need to focus your service efforts and when. 

A fleet management software like Azuga is designed to help you streamline all the moving parts that come with maintaining a fleet of vehicles. If you don’t already have telematics, Firestone Direct offers full installation services to help you get your system up and running. Staying organized is an important way to recognize potential risk and find ways to address it.

Digitize Document Management

With digital records, saving, sharing, and searching for information about past vehicle maintenance and status checks are simplified. With a digital schedule and tracking system, you’ll be able to plan work schedules with ease and never miss an oil change again.
 

Firestone Direct’s Digital Vehicle Report (DVI) is designed to make tracking and managing maintenance a little easier. After a vehicle inspection, a Firestone Direct technician will provide the report, which includes what needs attention immediately, what will require attention in the next few weeks to few months and what is currently healthy. With this report and other digital records provided by telematics, risks related to compliance and maintenance can be navigated with ease.