Fleet management company KeepTruckin has introduced a new tool called Maintenance Reminders, which will help carriers to automatically track upcoming vehicle service needs and help ensure they maximize their fleets’ uptime. Unveiled in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, KeepTruckin hopes that this service can help companies avoid unscheduled vehicle downtimes, which is critical to succeeding in an extremely volatile market.
“We’ve been getting requests for such a service from our customers for quite some time. We did a study with around 15 different fleets, and 70% of the participants said they were using either Excel spreadsheets or manual processes to keep track of their truck maintenance – like an oil change, fixing tires, measuring mileage or engine hours,” said Jason Pesek, product manager at KeepTruckin.
Using Maintenance Reminders, fleets can now set schedules that track dates, mileage and maintenance history without manual interference. The platform sends out alerts when there is a maintenance need – like an oil change or a new filter – emailing the back office when it’s time.
A majority of back offices spend considerable time working out these details, without having any meaningful solution to resolve this issue. Pesek explained that by providing fleets with Maintenance Reminders, they’re now able to keep their vehicles on the road longer and reduce unscheduled downtimes, which sometimes comes with massive towing costs.
Chelsea Kendrick, product marketing manager at KeepTruckin, weighed in on the towing problem in the case of a truck breaking down on the highway. It might cost as much as $3,000 to get a technician to visit and fix the vehicle, and if that is not possible, towing the truck can set a fleet back by $10,000 – money that is usually accepted only in cash.
“Using Maintenance Remainders is not just saving the back-office money and time that can be spent on things that matter, but also making sure critical supplies – be it food or medical equipment – reaches its destination on time and without any issues on the way,” said Pesek. “We are hoping that in the light of everything going on, this can help drive more efficiency and allow fleets to plan for tomorrow without a hassle.”
Since its launch last week, Maintenance Reminders has seen significant traction. Pesek mentioned that they have witnessed fleets adopting the tool within a day of its launch, with some of them already setting up entire schedules for their fleet.
“This is something that our customers really wanted and needed. Apart from giving fleets the ability to add service history based on the actual reminders, we also allow them to add completed services for unscheduled maintenance as well so that they can manage their whole maintenance program through us,” said Pesek.
For KeepTruckin, the Maintenance Reminders is yet another product that is in line with the company’s idea of offering an integrated platform to its customers. In light of COVID-19, KeepTruckin released an economic petition on providing financial relief to truck drivers, in an attempt to show its intent of standing together with the American trucking community.
“We are petitioning the government to help with some of the truck drivers’ fixed cost burdens. One is their truck or trailer lease payment and the second is their insurance costs,” said Kelly Hanson, senior manager of technology partnerships at KeepTruckin. “These are two pretty hefty costs that truck drivers are going to have to endure over the course of the next few months. And they’re not currently receiving any assistance with that from the federal government.”