The tools to properly diagnose truck service needs to avoid a nightmare

The tools to properly diagnose truck service needs to avoid a nightmare

This Halloween, we thought we would share a tale fitting for the holiday—The Nightmare of Elm’s Fleet. Elm was a typical fleet owner. He strived for efficiency and considerable profit margins. When trucks rolled into his bays, he and his team of technicians serviced them so they were ready to roll in no time. But their efforts were all in vain.

Calls started coming into the shop left and right, breakdown after breakdown, tow truck after tow truck – what was going on? Was he cursed? Hexed? Haunted? 

Nope! Turns out he was just misinformed. You see, Elm was only utilizing one management software for his repair service process. And if you want to dispatch trucks fully repaired and ready for the road ahead, utilizing diagnostic tool management systems is something you have to do. 

Unfortunately, it isn’t what Elm did. He was unable to detect the root cause of technical issues because he wasn’t maintaining all aspects of his diagnostic tools. So even though it seemed like the trucks were ready for use, it’s only because underlying issues continued going undetected. 

If you want to reduce unexpected breakdowns and protect your bottom line, utilize a system that allows maintenance professionals to properly detect every issue on the vehicle. This allows you to improve the repair process and accelerate the triage process in your shop. 

Data analytics are a great first step to managing and maintaining all aspects of your service bay diagnostic tools.

Nothing is a threat to your profit margins / bottom line more than a false confidence in your fleet’s performance. Data Analytics can help you manage your service tools so that when the trucks roll onto the bays, you can repair both the expected and unexpected.

You May Also Like

Where we’re at with battery electric trucks

Battery electric trucks are available and charging infrastructure is hard to come by, so where does that leave us?

Freightliner-eM2-electric-truck-unscipted

Let's cut to the EV chase, here's how battery electric truck adoption is shaking out from the view of Rakesh Aneja, head of eMobility, Daimler Truck North America:

"At Daimler Truck, we've been working on zero emission transformation for the last several years, and we are at the point where we have several battery electric vehicle models that are in series production today. We have 10 [electric truck] models in production globally and four in production in the United States. Having said that, at least from our perspective, the transformation is slower than what we would expect and what we would hope."

The importance of wheel bearing maintenance

The wheel bearings are, quite simply, what keep your wheels turning, and with minimal friction.

The proof is in the data: How fleets can use data to their advantage

Sheer data is no good to you on its own. You need to understand what you can do with it, and the ways in which it can help your fleet.

Geotab's Steven White
Remanufacturing and the circularity of trucking sustainably

Taking steps toward decarbonization and the role of remanufacturing in reducing energy usage.

Trucking-Sustainably-remanufacturing-volvo-trucks-1400
Demystifying medium-duty battery electric trucks

The advantages and misconceptions of medium-duty electric vehicles for vocational tasks.

mullen-3-medium-duty-electric-truck-unscripted-1400

Other Posts

Fleet Profile: Ryder uses EVs to focus on zero-emissions fleet

Ryder says it intends to give customers an “end-to-end” solution by adding thousands of GM BrightDrop EVs to it’s lease and rental fleet.

BrightDrop-Electric-Cargo-Van-Ryder-Nov-23
Noregon releases DLA+ 3.0 Vehicle Interface Adapter

Enhanced speed and auto-detecting Smart Cable technology are among the improvements Noregon is touting over the previous generation.

Noregon-DLA-3.0-Adapter-Kit
Volvo changes truck spec’ing with new VNL

Trim and powertrain packages, why you shouldn’t panic, and the craziest thing I learned about this truck.

Volvo-VNL-Johan-Agebrand-Interview-wide-shot-TMC
Maximizing ROI in fleet decarbonization

How do we achieve an orderly and economically viable fleet decarbonization at scale?

Electric-Truck-Tire-Generic-1400