Managing all the facets involved with vehicle maintenance is a bear for any fleet to handle alone, even in the best of times. Add in an economic recession, plummeting freight volumes, aging equipment, plus caps on technician staffing along with repair budgets, and the fleet maintenance chore can rapidly become a nightmare.

That's why OEMs and their dealers are finding ways to offer more support to fleets in the parts and service arena these days — and not necessarily by just taking over their maintenance departments.

“Truck fleets with their own maintenance shops are under increasing pressure to maximize mechanic and technician productivity and minimize parts inventories, particularly in the current challenging economy,” says John Wisdom, director of customer systems for Kenworth Truck Co.'s PremierCare Connect service.

SIFTING DATA

“Gathering and sorting through a myriad of information to achieve those objectives, while still directing day-to-day operations, remains one of the biggest challenges facing fleet maintenance directors and shop supervisors,” he adds. “A good maintenance management program can help. It allows managers to track the time taken by mechanics or technicians to perform tasks, such as preventive maintenance and general repairs. Users can also track parts purchasing and inventory so that their shops don't carry more parts than needed.”

Mifflintown, PA-based Zimmerman Truck Lines is one fleet using PremierCare to better control the hassles involved in tracking parts and service information.

“In the past, it was easy for us to forget to mark down when we took parts out of inventory,” says Shane Zimmerman, the carrier's shop foreman (who is not related to the Zimmerman family owners). “As a result, our quarterly parts inventory would be off from what we're supposed to have on hand compared to what was actually on hand.”

Now, though, by using PremierCare, his team of 12 mechanics scans parts taken from the company's inventory into the computer, and selects one of the fleet's 160 trucks or 350 dry-van and flatbed trailers to receive them. This way, the system tracks the date that the parts are taken from inventory, who took them, and where the parts are going.

“Now our inventory is nearly 100% accurate,” Zimmerman says. “That means we're not ordering parts we don't need and not running out of parts we do need.”

The same needs apply when managing maintenance through an OEM's dealership network, with fleets demanding consistency in service and pricing.

That's been the driving philosophy behind the development of the Internet-based Mack/Volvo MVASIST automated service initiation system. Used by sister OEMs Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks Inc., they plan to make it mandatory technology for their national network of 390 jointly branded dealers by the end of this year.

“There are three major areas of ‘heartburn,’ if you will, for fleets trying to manage maintenance through the dealership network,” explains Dave Albert, Volvo's manager of customer satisfaction marketing. “First, fleets want a consistent service process, with standard repair times. Second, they want the process to include complete fleet and vehicle-specific information, including warranty coverage and agreed-upon parts pricing at the start of the repair. Finally, and this is the key part, more effective and detailed communication between the fleet and dealership is required, beginning with the arrival of the truck and continuing through the repair process.”

Since 2003, Volvo and Mack have been working with Decisiv to incorporate all of those needs into a single system that fleets, dealers and OEMs can all access through the Internet. Pilot tests of MVASIST in select fleets and dealers began back in 2005.

ON THE SAME PAGE

MVASIST works like this: When a customer's truck pulls into a participating dealership for service, the service writer discusses the truck's issues with the driver and performs an initial evaluation, then uses the system to create a comprehensive repair estimate, including related service operations, parts, labor, shop supplies, waste disposal fees and taxes. It also incorporates pricing for fleets that participate in the MV Preferred parts program, says Albert.

An important benefit of MVASIST is that fleets are assured of uniform service procedures and information, regardless of where the truck is serviced in the dealer network, he notes. All of the estimate and service information is provided online for multiple managers at the fleet to review and approve.

“The last two years we've really seen this system get some traction with dealers and fleets alike, largely because of the improvement in communication MVASIST offers,” adds Eric Kananen, who's been acting as project manager the past few years. “The major reason for service issues comes down to the reliance on phones and faxes to share information between fleets and dealers. That often creates major delays and puts misinformation into the service process. That's what this system is designed to prevent.”

Add to that improved efficiencies, and that is where programs like MVASIST bring advantages.

As an online tool, says Albert, MVASIST allows for faster, more accurate service estimates and write-ups when trucks need service. It also offers more detailed information to share between the fleet and dealer, even involving the driver and the OEM as need be. The system allows for photographs, purchase orders, and estimates to be attached as the service process moves along, and even gives fleets the opportunity to preload specific inspection criteria for the dealer to perform every time one of their vehicles is in the shop, says Albert.

It's also been made simple for fleets to get up and running with MVASIST, adds Volvo's Kananen, as they merely need to input their vehicle identification numbers and establish inspection requirements if so desired.

“It's very much a ‘point-and-click’ style of system; it's very intuitive,” he explains. “Another great part to this is that the data never goes away. You can go back and look at estimates up to a year. For many of our pilot fleets, they were able to eliminate whole file cabinets full of papers because all the information they needed got stored online.”

Albert notes that there's a “longer learning curve” for dealers to put MVASIST in place, simply because the system ties into so many different segments of the business — parts, warranty coverage, etc. — and because it requires changes in the service process.

Next Page: Communication Grows