Maintaining your fleet and servicing your trucks go a long way in keeping the vehicles in perfect operational conditions. Particularly, when you are committed to hauling heavy loads throughout the length or breadth of the country, you need to choose the right truck center. For heavy trucks, it’s quite normal to break down once in a while, particularly if it has flawlessly serviced you for 10K miles or so. Working with the established truckers, you can sort out the possible glitches.
Established truck maintenance centers have experienced professionals offering the necessary maintenance services. When your fleet returns after a long trip, the experts would check the fuel status, battery conditions, and tires. Besides, they carry out the regular servicing and maintenance to keep the vehicles in good operational health.
What does heavy truck maintenance include?
Among other aspects, heavy truck maintenance should include the following services.
- Brake failure and wear
The professionals at reputed truck centers do the needful to ensure that the brakes of your truck remain in proper conditions. Remember, brake failure can lead to accidents on the roads, resulting in litigations and unnecessary expenses. To minimize the chances of accidents, you need to take your truck for routine checkups after the fleet returns from a long trip. The professionals would replace the brake pads or shoes regularly. Occasionally, they might also recommend changing the drums.
- Maintaining the engine
Remember, technical glitches in the drivetrain and the engine might keep your truck off the road. The experts at reputed truck centers look out for signs of problems in the engine. This might include loss of oil pressure, decreased engine power, and excessive smoking. All these signs can point to an unhealthy engine.
Heavy truck maintenance includes checking the engine coolant, exhaust temperature, and fluid levels. Truck maintenance also includes changing the engine oil. The professionals need to check the rubber components present under the car’s hood.
- Air pressure in tires
Besides wheel alignment, the experts at the leading truck centers inspect the air pressure in tires. If the tires are underinflated, they can take a toll on the fuel economy of your truck. Again, overinflated tires can cause safety concerns. The mechanics would also take a look at the tread wear and do the needful.
Remember, properly inflated tires can save around 3.3% of your fuel cost. When your truck runs thousands of miles throughout the country, this small percentage can reflect conspicuously on your fuel bills.
- Check body problems
Corrosion of the truck’s body happens to be one of the key reasons for the premature retirement of these vehicles. Due to chemical and salt deposits, the truck’s body might corrode. Particularly, when you drive through terrains full of snow or ice, this chance of corrosion increases. Nevertheless, you cannot prevent rust altogether. With proper servicing, you can slow down the process, extending the lifeline of your truck significantly.
Apart from rusting, the specialists would also check out issues with the truck’s frame. Bodily collisions or dents need to be addressed before they aggravate to other issues.
- Examine the battery
After your trucks return after a long trip, it makes sense to inspect the batteries. They should have adequate power for your next trip over the subsequent months. Particularly, long-haul vehicles can experience operational issues due to strained batteries. The experts would also inspect the electrical system and alternator. So, you need to check all these aspects after a long trip to keep your fleet in perfect condition.
Considering the gravity of maintaining your heavy-duty trucks and restoring their normal functional capabilities, you should reach out to an established truck center. This way, you can prevent the vehicle from running into technical glitches while running your business in full swing.
