Much can go wrong with big trucks. So preventive maintenance to reduce the possibility of future breakdowns or more expensive repairs later on is of critical importance.
In addition to maintenance that is done during annual inspections to both company-owned trucks and trailers, one trucking company for which Mike once drove has three levels of service:
- “A” Service: grease the fifth wheel platform, change the filters and top off the fluids;
- “B” Service (AKA “the big one”): oil change, filter change, replace tires if needed, replace brake shoes if needed, etc.; and
- “C” Service: the federal inspection which must be done annually.
Since we have only ever been company drivers, there is a lot about maintaining a truck that we do not know.
But we know that many drivers (particularly owner-operators) and truck mechanics know a lot about maintaining their trucks.
This page is your opportunity to provide other drivers with the benefit of your knowledge and expertise on this very important topic.
If you know of a tool, technique, inspection or anything else that would help other drivers maintain their trucks so as to save money on costlier repairs down the road, please share your ideas here.
Your topics can be about tractors, trailers, or specific equipment parts.
We want to see fewer and fewer of these kinds of problems on the road, where whole rigs or parts thereof have been parked or dropped because of breakdowns.
For example, one of the things that we’d like to know is the top 10 equipment failures and how best to prevent them.
Please bear in mind that this is not the place to submit ideas on reducing the cost of repairs, just the maintenance. (We plan to put a page for repairs on our site in the future.)
For now, here is what we cover:
We also published Tread Depth 2, a guest
post in response to questions about our tread depth article.
Thanks in advance for all your wonderful tips,
Mike and Vicki
Money saving tip: Preventive maintenance can help truck drivers avoid costly service calls, such as this driver had to make.
In addition to the mechanic’s time, the driver (or his/her company) may have had to pay for the service truck’s mileage and any products used during the repair.
These costs can really add up.
Some breakdowns can be completely avoided by practicing regular preventive maintenance.
