4 Ways to Optimize Vehicle Maintenance Ahead of the Summer Season

As we quickly approach the summer months, prioritizing vehicle maintenance is critical. Ensuring your fleet is in optimal condition helps to prevent unplanned downtime and plays a crucial role in safety and cost-effectiveness. And seasonal factors like weather conditions, increased demand and congested roads can all impact your maintenance strategy.

In the summer, vehicles are subjected to increased stress due to higher temperatures, making them more prone to wear and tear. Neglecting maintenance during this time can lead to several issues like breakdowns and decreased fuel efficiency. By proactively scheduling regular maintenance checks, including inspections of cooling systems, tires, brakes and fluid levels, you can mitigate the risk of roadside incidents and extend the lifespan of your vehicles.

In this blog, MICHELIN Connected Fleet outlines four ways to leverage your connected fleet management solution to optimize vehicle maintenance for the hotter months while boosting productivity and efficiency.

1. RELY ON insights from your connected fleet data 

Understanding the current health of your vehicles is the first step when thinking through your maintenance strategy. Turn to connected fleet technologies that can provide visibility into the health of your vehicles. From monitoring fuel consumption, equipment performance, route tracking and more, your connected fleet management solution can arm you with the data needed to ensure your vehicles perform well during busy summer months.

A connected fleet solution can provide you with endless amounts of data; however, trying to make sense of the vast amount of information can be overwhelming. Working with a connected fleet partner who understands your specific maintenance needs is an effective solution. Consider industry partners who take a personalized approach and can highlight key data and insights to inform your maintenance strategy.

2. minimize vehicle wear & tear

A second consideration for your maintenance strategy is ensuring your drivers are practicing safe behaviors on the road and limiting unnecessary vehicle wear and tear. When drivers exhibit unsafe behaviors like harsh braking and speeding, they risk their own safety, put others on the road at risk and expedite vehicle wear and tear and damage.

These behaviors can contribute to vehicle downtime, damaged equipment, wasted resources and potential incidents on the road – all major factors that can negatively impact operational efficiency during the summer season. Fleet managers can use vehicle tracking solutions that provide a holistic view of your drivers’ behavior on the road with real-time updates. Additionally, the data from your fleet management software can help identify system malfunctions, potential safety issues and gaps in driver training.

3. reduce fuel consumption to support a greener fleet 

Monitoring fuel consumption is another key maintenance consideration, particularly in the summer months. As fuel prices continue to rise, it’s important to monitor and maintain efficient fuel usage from a budget standpoint and to support your fleet's health and environmental impact.

One place to focus when trying to reduce fuel consumption is limiting vehicle idling. Idling wastes more than six billion gallons of gasoline and diesel each year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. This behavior can be costly – both for your bottom line and the planet. Implementing fuel monitoring systems can help you track fuel consumption. Fleet managers can determine how much fuel is being used per trip and identify any potential fuel system malfunctions contributing to wasted fuel. By monitoring this data, fleets can identify areas for cost savings, help reduce unexpected maintenance issues and meet sustainability goals.

4. establish a proactive maintenance plan

A final tip for optimizing your vehicles’ performance is to stay one step ahead of the maintenance curve. Businesses often experience unplanned maintenance issues or incidents on the road more often than they’d like, so it is essential that you have a proactive maintenance plan in place to enhance performance and reduce unwanted downtime during the summer season.

By analyzing driver behavior, routing and fuel usage data, fleet managers can quickly recognize patterns contributing to vehicle and equipment damage and make informed proactive maintenance decisions. With this strategy in place, you lengthen the lifespan of your vehicles and continuously improve operational efficiency and productivity.

take on the summer season with MICHELIN connected fleet

The summer months can be rough on vehicles. However, prioritizing proactive maintenance is a sure way to stay ahead of potential issues and ensure optimal fleet performance. MICHELIN Connected Fleet understands the value of implementing a maintenance strategy to keep your fleets moving forward. From analyzing data on driver behavior, supporting fuel efficiency and lessening the likelihood of vehicle damage, our team can provide the tools to improve your vehicle’s performance and boost your bottom line during the summer season and beyond.

Ready to kickstart your fleet’s maintenance journey? Call us today at 800-358-6187 or contact us online.