Top 5 Fleet Vehicle Preventive Maintenance Examples

Picture this: Your delivery van delivering time-sensitive materials for a major customer just broke down while en route. The driver’s stranded on a busy highway, your customer is outraged, and you’re scrambling to figure out a new means of delivery and apologize to your client — all while the rest of the day’s schedule is falling behind.

Unexpected vehicle breakdowns can seriously impact your bottom line, and in some severe instances, driver safety. As it turns out, this particular van broke down as a result of a part failure that could have been prevented with regular flushing and replacement of transmission fluids. You’re down a key vehicle in your fleet, and potentially a critical customer, all as a result of missing a simple maintenance task. 

Your approach to managing your fleet doesn’t need to be like this. By adopting a fleet vehicle preventive maintenance plan, you can mitigate the risk of breakdowns by regularly inspecting your vehicles and replacing oil, fluids, tires, brakes and other critical parts as needed. In this guide, you will learn why this approach to fleet maintenance is the right one and gain insight into how to apply it effectively within your organization. 

What Is Preventive Maintenance for Fleet Vehicles? 

Fleet vehicle preventive maintenance is just what it sounds like: a proactive approach to maintaining your fleet to catch and address minor issues through inspections and recurring servicing. Rather than waiting for problems to arise with your vehicles, you can mitigate the risk of breakdowns and expensive repairs by identifying and addressing wear and tear, regularly performing oil changes and addressing other essential maintenance tasks. 

Imagine running a delivery company that operates with a variety of vans. One van has been notoriously disregarded, with oil changes happening inconsistently. Having gone thousands of miles without an oil change, it suddenly breaks down, resulting in delays for a now frustrated customer, expensive repairs and lost revenue. Another van maintains a standard oil change schedule and continues to operate functionally without failure. 

This preventive approach results in a significantly smoother and cost-effective delivery process. 

Types of Vehicle Preventive Maintenance

There are two main types of preventive maintenance to perform on fleet vehicles. These include:

Time-Based Maintenance 

This approach involves recurring maintenance at regular intervals (i.e., every six months), regardless of mileage. It is important for preventing wear and tear issues and especially important for assets that tend to degrade over time, even with limited use.

Usage-Based Maintenance

This includes servicing based on usage like the amount of miles driven or operating hours. This technique helps to ensure that maintenance is only done when it’s truly needed, reducing unnecessary maintenance work and extending the lifespan of heavily used assets.

Common Examples of Fleet Maintenance

Within these two types of preventive maintenance, the most common examples of preventive fleet maintenance include:

• Air filter replacements
• Oil changes
• Tire rotation and air pressure checks 
• Brake inspections
• Fluid flushes and exchanges

With proper coordination and implementation, your fleet will be more reliable, efficient and long-lasting. Let’s dig deeper into each of these vehicle preventive maintenance tasks.

Air Filters

Air filters are generally supposed to be inspected every 12,000 to 15,000 miles or once a year on average, depending on the vehicle and driving conditions. (Fleets operating within dusty or off-road environments may require more frequent inspections and replacements.)

Why Are Air Filters Important?

Clean air filters are critical to help engines “breathe,” optimizing fuel efficiency and overall engine performance. When a filter is clogged and airflow is restricted there is a reduction in power and more fuel consumption. Scheduling the consistent replacement of air filters can reduce overall emissions and extend an engine’s lifespan. 

For example, suppose a fleet manager noticed declining miles-per-gallon (MPG) across several vehicles. After routine air filter replacements, fuel efficiency rebounded and saved the company thousands in fuel costs annually. In short, it’s a simple yet impactful maintenance task that pays off quickly.

Oil Changes

You should change your vehicle’s oil every 5,000 to 7,500 miles on average, depending more specifically on the type of vehicle and its engine’s demands. Using synthetic oils could potentially offer longer intervals in between changes, but consistency is essential.

Why Prioritize Routine Oil Changes?

Oil lubricates engine parts, reduces friction and helps dissipate heat. It also breaks down and collects contaminants over time that could otherwise lead to engine wear or failure. Regularly performing oil changes ensures that you maintain optimal engine performance and protect your vehicle’s health.

Failing to change the oil could result in a complete engine replacement or other costly repairs. By abiding by a consistent oil change schedule, you can extend your vehicle’s lifespan and mitigate the risk of unplanned downtime. 

Tire Rotations & Air Pressure Checks

Tire rotation should be performed every 5,000 miles or every six months, and you should be checking the air pressure of your tires at least monthly (or even more often if it is a high-mileage vehicle).

Why Is Preventive Tire Maintenance Beneficial? 

Properly maintaining your tires promotes more even wear, extends tire life and improves fuel economy. Tires that aren’t properly cared for reduce total miles per gallon and can be dangerous, especially at high speeds. Uneven wear could affect impact handling and increase the likelihood of blowouts.

Delivery fleets that perform regular tire rotations and pressure checks drastically reduce tire replacements and boost safety, lower costs and ensure smoother rides for drivers. 

Brake Services

You should have your brake systems inspected every 10,000 to 15,000 miles. Brake pads typically need to be replaced between 25,000 and 70,000 miles, depending on usage.

Why Regularly Check Your Brakes? 

Brakes are integral to driver safety, especially for vehicles that need to stop frequently or carry heavy loads. Pads get worn out over time and rotors may warp, which can lead to reduced stopping power and the need for costly repairs.

Proactively checking your brakes can help to identify issues like squealing, vibration or reduced responsiveness before they become hazards or require more expensive repairs. Protect your drivers, others on the road and fleet assets by leveraging a preventive brake maintenance routine.

Fluid Flushes & Exchanges

Flush or exchange your vehicle’s coolant, transmission fluid, brake fluid and power steering fluid regularly (on average, this should be done between 30,000 to 60,000 miles).

Why Is Replacing Fluids Important for Vehicles? 

These fluids are critical for keeping core systems functioning properly and protect the vehicle from overheating, corrosion and part failure. Over time, fluids degrade and collect debris, reducing effectiveness. For example, old coolant can lead to engine overheating, while dirty brake fluid can compromise braking response.

Routine flushes improve vehicle reliability and prevent damage to high-value components. For fleets, this means fewer breakdowns, better performance and lower total cost of ownership.

How to Use a CMMS to Improve Fleet Vehicle Maintenance 

A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) like Coast simplifies maintenance scheduling, tracking and execution. It centralizes service records, automates reminders based on mileage or dates, and streamlines communication with mechanics.

Key benefits of using a CMMS for vehicle preventive maintenance include:

• Automated scheduling: Coast allows businesses to automate both time-based and usage-based maintenance schedules, ensuring no critical fleet servicing is missed. This reduces the risk of breakdowns and helps keep your fleet consistently road-ready without relying on manual tracking.
• Simple digital work orders: Maintenance technicians can access detail-oriented tasks, asset history and checklists right from a tablet or mobile device with digital work orders, speeding up completion times and reducing paperwork. Once a task is finalized, the technician can record the progress and anything of note, which is instantly stored in the asset history and integrated into maintenance reporting. 
• Maintenance analytics: A CMMS software tracks key metrics like service frequency, downtime and repair costs across your fleet in real time. Insights from maintenance reporting help organizational leaders make smarter decisions around part or vehicle replacement, budgeting and optimizing overall fleet performance.
• Inventory management: Using a preventive maintenance software for asset inventory management allows you to track everything from spare tires to replacement oil in real time, so you always have critical parts when needed and aren’t overspending on unnecessary supplies for your fleet. 

Don’t wait to upgrade your processes and extend your vehicles’ lifespans. Get started with a free demo of Coast today!