The increasing emphasis on vehicle standards and maintenance in chain of responsibility means fleet managers need to be proactive in their risk management strategies.

Here are five ways to manage maintenance failure risk:

1. Maintaining detailed records

Whether repairs and maintenance are conducted in-house or by external contractors, good recording and monitoring systems need to be in place. This is to ensure that repair and maintenance times are controlled, performance standards are met and that accurate records of each repair are kept.

Apart from monitoring cost and performance, detailed records of servicing and repair and maintenance, are essential to avoid the issue of liability in the case of operational accidents being open to question.

Good records also provide the basis for feedback to operations supervisors on the reasons for failures when a failure is due to either the operator or inappropriate use of the item. This provides the supervisor with the information needed to take corrective action with the operator.

2. Use of genuine parts

Genuine manufacturer’s parts or manufacturer approved generics should be used in all repairs and maintenance wherever possible. Warranty on genuine spare parts often ensures subsequent premature failures are also covered by warranty. Where evidence can be produced that genuine parts have been used this will normally improve the resale value. When after market alternatives are used, this must be supported by analysis and evidence that the alternate part is of a satisfactory standard.

3. Programmed safety checks

Safety checks on every item of plant and vehicle are critical. Miscellaneous plant must be checked every year as a minimum, and low utilisation plant should be checked and serviced regularly (every six months minimum) to ensure there is no downtime accumulated from flat batteries and the like when the plant or vehicle is required for operational use.

4. Repairs to manufacturer’s specifications

When specifying repairs, ensure that the repair is undertaken to the plant or vehicle to manufacturers’ specifications as a minimum. In many circumstances items are repaired just to keep them running, but this often causes more failures. Where repairs are undertaken by an in-house workshop to manufacturer’s specification there is a greater likelihood that warranty claims will be accepted.

5. Oil sampling and analysis

Oil analysis is an important risk management tool to predict failures and should be an integral part of the condition monitoring program of the fleet even beyond warranty on high utilisation plant, vehicles and equipment. An oil analysis program can identify abnormal trends and pinpoint the wearing components as well as the severity of wear taking place. This allows for appropriate action to be taken rather than ‘unscheduled reactions’.