By Ross Moody, IPWEA National Executive Officer
An aim of asset management planning for fleet is to align resource allocation on providing, operating and maintaining fleet assets – in line with the reliability and safety needs of the customer. This is termed “level of service”.
What is the customer’s expectation of a fleet asset? One is for it not to breakdown on the job.
In providing a reliable service, it is important to know when to carry out maintenance or replace a machine before it gets to the point of failure, potentially causing major operational problems.
Understanding levels of service is important for the lifecycle management of fleet assets, as with other assets. They will determine what types of assets will be provided, how often they will be maintained, when assets will be rehabilitated or replaced and how the assets will be disposed.
Levels of service define the asset’s performance targets in relation to reliability, quantity, quality, responsiveness, safety, capacity, environmental impacts, comfort, cost/affordability and legislative compliance.
Drivers affecting levels of service
The factors affecting levels of service can broadly be broken into four categories:
- Function – what is the item going to be used for?
- Customer requirements – the expectations of the customers.
- Strategic and corporate goals – the lifecycle management of fleet assets should be consistent with the organisation's goals and values.
- Legislative requirements – the objectives/standards that must be met, set by state, federal or international bodies, to ensure the safety of the user and general public.
Customer requirements
Users of fleet are seeking safe, reliable, available and economical fleet assets. The owners of the fleet have an additional requirement of environmental considerations, in line with corporate policy commitments, and this will impact on purchases of new and replacement plant and vehicles.
Customers rely on fleet management to plan and budget for plant replacement, research available options to meet operational needs, prepare specifications, procure plant and vehicles, undertake preventative maintenance, plan scheduled and non-scheduled servicing and respond to ad hoc customer service requests.
Involving relevant staff is particularly important in the purchase of replacement and new plant to ensure the suitability of the plant required and ownership of the decision by the customer. This is also a risk management strategy.
Service Level Agreements
Customer requirements should be detailed in a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between fleet management and its customers.
Prior to preparing an SLA, fleet management must have an SLA with the mechanical service provider on servicing schedules and response times for breakdowns.
The agreement between fleet management and its customers needs to be based on a common understanding of relationships, responsibilities, performance measurement and the process for resolving disputes. The agreement provides clear definitions of responsibility and guidelines to follow when performance requirements are not met.
The SLA aims to create a partnership between the parties focussing on agreed actions to deliver the required level of service to operational departments. Having an SLA will increase accountability and improve customer service and service delivery.
The table below provides an example of the requirements placed on fleet management and a customer in order to meet the customer’s desired levels of service.
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Customer Requirement
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Fleet Performance Standard
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Requirement of Customer
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Plant & Vehicle Availability
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- Scheduled maintenance
- Non scheduled maintenance/repairs
- Maintain failure records and provide feedback to customers on reasons for failures
- Qualified tradespersons to identify/repairs assets
- Breakdown response
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- 100% compliant with manufacturers scheduled servicing
- Comply with the 8 steps of maintenance chain of responsibility
- Asset to be operational
- Servicing to suit the operational requirements of its customers
- Mechanics inspect/test drive all plant during maintenance times with minimum 6 monthly inspections or as such times as determined by risk management
- Carry out or program all faults for repair as identified
- Respond to breakdowns within 30 Minutes and provide advice on expected downtime within 30 minutes of assessing the failure if not initially repaired. If repairs cannot be affected within 4 hours report on expected completion time by 2.00pm on the following day.
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Daily inspection by driver/operator
Make the item available when required for servicing
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Safety
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- ANCAP Safety Ratings to be considered in purchase decision
- Roadworthy compliance
- Qualified tradespersons to undertake checks
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- ANCAP rating of 4 or more preferred for light vehicles
- 100 % compliant with legislation
- Safety inspections during scheduled/non scheduled maintenance
- Proactive safety checks minimum 6 monthly on all fleet items or as such times as determined by risk management
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Daily/weekly inspection by driver/operator
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Plant & Vehicle (Optimum) Replacement
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- Program replacement (10 year plan)
- Condition replacement - early if due to failure or incorrect item for the job
- Achieve expected utilisation or greater
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- Minimum annual review of utilisation and external plant hire
- Replaced at optimum timing
- Minimum whole of life costs
- Annual revision of 10 year replacement plan
- Descriptive rather than prescriptive specifications ie the purpose of the item and the job to be done
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Requirements of replacement item
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Staff Consultation
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- Staff input into replacement item requirements
- Involvement of end user in tender assessment
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- Invite tenders or quotes, evaluate whole of life costs
- Weighted evaluations in tender assessment
- Provide recommendations to client management for asset selection or options
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Appropriate staff involvement
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A sample service level agreement is provided in the IPWEA Plant & Vehicle Management Manual Edition 3.