What is Preventive Maintenance?
Preventive maintenance is crucial for ensuring peak performance of prime mover trucks. This involves three main segments: servicing the vehicle on regular basis, conducting regular inspections of the trucks and repairing faults found during the inspection (regardless how small or big they are). Preventive maintenance is generally recommended to be performed depending and based on:
- – time the vehicle has being used,
- – hours of engine work,
- – kilometers passed,
- – amount of fuel used.
Actions that need to be taken include:
- – Inspection of the vehicle;
- – Regular and proper lubrication;
- – Regular cleaning;
- – Adjustment;
- – Testing;
- – Repairing every single defect detected;
- – Replacing the worn parts of the vehicle.
Why is Preventive Maintenance Important?
Preventive maintenance is important as it will prevent potential problems, maximize the performance ability of the vehicle and prevent possible breakdowns of the truck. This is important for prolonging the lifespan of the truck, thus should be performed regularly.
Methods for Implementing Preventive Maintenance Program
- – Proactive – Preventive maintenance actions on a scheduled basis.
The proactive method includes preventive actions which consist of scheduled repair of some parts, and regular inspection that is performed by the driver of the prime mover truck. - – Reactive – Unscheduled maintenance in case of breakdown.
The reactive method involves the repair of defects that cause breakdowns. These defects usually happen due to lack of preventive care.
Ways to Develop Effective Preventive Maintenance Program
- – Make a Maintenance Services Checklist
This is one of the most important ways for preventing breakdowns since it helps prime mover fleet owners plan the actions that need to be taken for conducting routine inspections such as: changing the oil, filters, transmission mounts, cooling system, belts and hoses, brakes and more.
- – Determine Time Intervals For Performing Maintenance Tasks
For this step, owners should rely on their manufacturer’s manuals. These booklets list important truck information, including tips and recommendations on how often the operator ought to conduct preventive maintenance actions. However, there are other factors which can lead to changes in the recommended time intervals, such as whether the truck operates in normal or severe duty operations.
- – Conduct Written Inspections And Complaints
The driver of the prime mover is the person that can best detect any issues of the vehicle. This is because he spends more time with the vehicle and he is the person that knows best what to look for when conducting the inspection. For this reason, when it comes to preventive maintenance, it’s driver’s duty to conduct written inspection and complaint report, that will show which parts need replacement of repair.
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