Here are 5 effective and useful ways to reduce vehicle downtime.
Humans need time to rest and de-stress.
They need to “rejuvenate” to get back to living and thriving.
This is just us after a long day of work.
Your vehicles go through a lot more.
After all, vehicles are man-made things. And they are bound to experience downtime every now and then.
If you’re a truck owner, you can easily tell if your vehicle is in bad shape.
There are almost too many signs that you just can’t ignore.
Yet, you choose to ignore them because you keep telling yourself that’s normal and that’s not urgent.
Only a week later, your vehicle makes a sudden pause and won’t start.
There are so many ways to get out of this tricky situation.
But the best approach is to incorporate certain strategies that aim to reduce vehicle downtime.
The following discussion will primarily focus on various ways in which vehicle downtime can be prevented.
Let’s get to it.
5 Ways To Reduce 2290 Vehicle Downtime
- Choose The Right Fleet For The Right Job
- Conduct Timely (And Effective) Inspections
- Schedule Repair & Maintenance
- Leverage Vehicle Downtime
- Monitor Vehicle Performance
1. Choose The Right Fleet For The Right Job
When you want to buy a new vehicle for your trucking operations or when you want to upgrade your fleet, it’s important to choose vehicles with sturdy exteriors, modern features, and advanced configurations.
Your new vehicle should add value to your operations, become a reliable asset, and most importantly, perform at its best for a long time.
Even when you’re working with your existing fleet, make sure that you assign the right kind of vehicle for the right job. A heavy, full-size truck is always a good option for heavy loads. But it’s not always ideal for lighter loads within short distances.
Make sure that you’re not over-utilizing your best fleet on loads that don’t need that level of sturdiness.
2. Conduct Timely (And Effective) Inspections
At the end of the day, your vehicle is just machinery and the probability of malfunction cannot be ignored. This is why it’s ideal to conduct timely inspections, not just to stay compliant, but also to actually make sure that everything is in good shape.
The inspection is primarily conducted to evaluate the safety and functionality of the vehicle. Consider inspecting your vehicle carefully after every trip or after hitting a certain milestone (literally).
For example, it’s good to inspect your vehicle after every 2000 miles. This will give your vehicle enough time to perform at its best, and then give you enough time to examine if something’s wrong.
3. Schedule Repair & Maintenance
This is a necessary step you have to take to ensure that your vehicle performs at its best.
Don’t just address the issue when the vehicle finally gives up in the middle of nowhere.
Set aside some time, schedule repair and maintenance, and make sure that the issue at hand is addressed effectively.
4. Leverage Vehicle Downtime
Speaking of vehicle downtime.
It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can be a good excuse to get your vehicle checked thoroughly.
When your vehicle shows signs of trouble, it’s best to go with the “holistic” approach.
This means addressing not just the issue at hand, but also addressing other factors and source factors that are leading to such undesirable eventualities.
This improves the performance of your vehicle, keeps the vehicle in good condition for a longer time, and reduces the cost of frequent repairs (because you’re addressing all issues in one go).
5. Monitor Vehicle Performance
Your vehicle performance must be monitored to check if the vehicle is malfunctioning on its own or if factors such as distance, elements, or load weight are affecting the performance.
Extreme weather, aged/older components, rust, insufficient engine oil, and other factors slow down the performance of your vehicle.
Are your vehicles performing better when you’re not overloading your vehicles?
Are your vehicles performing poorer after a long, uninterrupted trip?
Draw the conclusions after thoroughly analyzing the data.
Downtime or not, if you’re operating your heavy highway vehicle on public highways, and it weighs 55,000 pounds or more, then you need to report your vehicle information on IRS Form 2290.
Trucking companies, small trucking businesses, truck owners, owner-operators, and fleet owners need to prepare and eFile IRS Form 2290.
Don’t eFile your 2290 forms with just any platform.
When you choose a platform to eFile your 2290 returns, you’re trusting it with your private business information.
In the wrong hands, this information can be used against your business.
Or even worse, your business information can be stolen.
eFile your IRS Form 2290 with an IRS-authorized eFile provider, such as EZ2290, which is trusted by 10,000+ truckers.
EZ2290 offers:
- Automatic HVUT tax calculations
- Secure & encrypted eFile transmissions
- Free 2290 VIN Corrections
- Free re-filing for rejected returns
- Quick and easy bulk data import
- Dynamic form completion
- Online options to pay your HVUT with convenience
- Priority 2290 tax support
Join thousands of businesses like yours who use EZ2290 every month and trust its seamless eFiling experiences.
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