Getting Your Company Vehicles Ready for Winter

There are two basic ways trucking companies can look at winter: proactively or re-actively. You either prepare your fleet for what’s ahead or fix issues as they come along. Being reactive is a sure-fire way to spend much more money on repairs and maintenance. On the other hand, if you have your vehicles inspected now, they will be ready for the worst weather conditions. The cost for proactive maintenance is a small fraction of major repairs, so there’s a great incentive to get them ready for the winter.

The first thing you should do is to have a maintenance inspection done on all of your company’s vehicles. By using well-known and experienced repair techs, such J&M Truck and Trailer Repair, you can get an even better bulk rate, thus allowing you to save even more money. A full inspection will consist of checking every belt and hose (the two parts that crack and break due to cold weather), all of the fluids, and all of the electrical components. Fixing a damaged hose now might cost you $100, but when the winter weather completely cracks it and leaves the vehicle without an important fluid, you are looking at thousands of dollars as the lack of fluids surely damaged something else. In a worst-case scenario, your entire engine can lock up if there are fluids missing, or going somewhere they’re not supposed to.

Finally, as the winter progresses, it is important to constantly check under the hood to make sure everything is fine. This is important to do even after you get a complete inspection. Look at the fluid levels, spark plugs, oil color, wiring, and even tire pressure. The same goes for your trailers (if applicable), as the winter can damage them inside and out.

Contact us today to learn more about essential winter maintenance tasks.

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