Tips for Keeping Your Truck Maintained
When it comes to avoiding expensive, time-consuming truck repairs, you naturally want to avoid them as much as possible.
When it comes to avoiding expensive, time-consuming truck repairs, you naturally want to avoid them as much as possible. The number one way to do this is by keeping up with preventative maintenance appointments with your diesel mechanic. Here are some ways to keep it running smoothly between appointments.
Cost vs. Investment
A lot of drivers will look at maintenance and scheduled service as just another cost and try to avoid spending money on it. While these scheduled appointments do have costs associated, it’s much better to look at preventative maintenance costs as an investment in your business rather than an additional cost. After all, keeping your truck maintained now can save you lots of money and downtime further down the road.
Record Everything
During your trucking career, there’s probably been a couple of times when you were driving down the road when suddenly you hear a strange noise. Or maybe you were pulling into a loading dock. You hear a slightly off noise coming from your rig, but you just dismiss it because maybe it was another vehicle or something outside your truck. A few weeks later, you’re stranded on the side of the highway with something wrong with your truck. This is an all too familiar scenario. When you hear that odd noise, or feel that random bump, or notice anything off about your truck’s behavior, log it. This can be especially helpful if there is more than one driver operating the same vehicle.
Inspect Your Vehicle Before and After Every Trip
In addition to your regular maintenance appointments and inspections from your mechanic, you should also be performing visual inspections before and after every trip to make sure your truck can make the trip and didn’t incur any damage during the job. For more details on performing your own visual inspections, talk to your diesel mechanic about the individual needs of your vehicle and things you need to be looking out for.
Follow the Rules
Every driver on the road today needs to have their vehicle inspected and maintain the standards set forth by federal, state, and local governments. For heavy trucks, however, there are even more rules and laws that need to be followed. A misstep could cost you valuable road time, so keep up with your preventative maintenance and make sure your truck passes every inspection!
MIDDLETON & MEADS IS YOUR ONE STOP SHOP FOR ALL OF YOUR VEHICLE’S NEEDS.
Need to repair your truck or bus? Contact Middleton & Meads today! Middleton & Meads. provides quality truck and bus repair, service, and fleet management for the Baltimore, MD area. We have over 90 years of experience in the trucking industry and will provide you with customer service like you have never experienced before! If you are interested in seeing how we can help your business, give us a call at (410) 752-5588 or visit us online today! For more articles and trucking tips, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and LinkedIn.