Before you look at anyone else, look at your own operation for a minute.
How many vehicles have you got, and what kind? A mix of 44-tonne artics needs a different setup to a fleet of vans doing last mile drops round Birmingham. When are they on the road, and when could they realistically come off it? Are they all at one depot, or spread out?
Write it down. It sounds a bit basic, we know. But it's the brief you'll hold every provider up against, and it stops you getting sold a package that suits them more than it suits you.
If you run HGVs, your O-licence depends on keeping vehicles roadworthy, and the DVSA expects to see the paperwork that proves it. Safety inspections need to be scheduled at appropriate intervals based on vehicle type, usage and operating conditions. Defects must be recorded, addressed and signed off, with records readily available when required.
A good provider will talk you through all of that without you having to drag it out of them. Ask them how they record inspections and how quickly you can get hold of the records. If they go a bit vague, that tells you something.
This is why fleet compliance and safety checks shouldn't be an add-on. They're the bit that keeps you legal.
This is where a lot of operators get caught out.
Some providers only work out of a workshop, which means every job starts with getting the vehicle there. That's fine if you've got spare vehicles and time to burn. Most fleets don't have either.
Others lean heavily on mobile fleet maintenance, sending a technician out to your yard. It’s brilliant for routine servicing and plenty of repairs, because the vehicle barely leaves your site. On-site mobile fleet maintenance can turn a lost half-day into an hour or two parked up at the depot. But some jobs genuinely need a workshop, so you want someone who’s got one. Honestly, the best answer is usually both.
Mobile fleet repair for the jobs that can be done where the truck is, and a proper workshop for the ones that can’t. Ask any provider which they offer, and how they decide which one a job needs.
There’s a simple test here. Ask a provider how they’d plan your servicing over the next twelve months. If they’ve got an answer, with intervals, a schedule built around your routes and a way of flagging what’s coming up, that’s a good sign. If they mostly talk about how fast they fix things when they break, you’re looking at a firefighting outfit.
Fast repairs matter, of course. But good fleet maintenance solutions are built on prevention. Catch the worn brake pads in the yard and you never have the roadside call. That’s cheaper, it’s safer, and your drivers will thank you for it.
If you’re running vans, don’t assume a heavy-vehicle specialist won’t want your work, and don’t assume they’ll get it either. Last mile fleet maintenance has its own headaches. Vans doing dozens of stops a day get through brakes, tyres and clutches faster than you’d expect. And because every van’s usually booked out, servicing is the first thing to slip.
A decent last mile maintenance service works around that. Early starts, servicing on site before the vans head out, quick turnarounds. Ask whether they’ve looked after van fleets before and what they did to keep them moving.
Even with the best planning, something will break at a bad moment. So ask about fleet roadside assistance before you need it. Who do your drivers ring? What hours is that line staffed? Will someone who knows commercial vehicles come out, or will it get passed along to whoever’s free? And will the call get logged, so it feeds back into your maintenance plan? Those answers say a lot about how a provider will treat you when you’re under pressure.
You might think distance doesn’t matter much if they’ve got mobile vans. It does, a bit. A provider that’s close to your depots and your main routes can get to you quicker, and they’ll get to know how your operation works. If you’re in the Midlands, fleet servicing in the West Midlands from someone just off the M6 is going to be easier than ringing a company a couple of hundred miles away.
We’re Kooner Fleet Management Solutions UK, a fleet maintenance service in the West Midlands, based in Wednesbury. We’ve been looking after fleets since 2016, starting out in Sacramento, California, and our first UK base is now up and running here.
We offer preventative fleet maintenance, mobile fleet repairs, and fleet compliance and safety checks. Work gets done at our Vehicle Maintenance Unit or by a mobile service vehicle that comes to you, with collection and return where it makes sense. We plan everything around your routes, not ours.
Right now we cover the Midlands and surrounding areas, and we're planning to bring our fleet management solutions to more of the UK as we grow.
If you're weighing up providers at the moment and want a reliable truck management company in your corner, give us a ring. We're happy to talk through your fleet, even if you're just comparing options.
Call +44 1922 922 744, email sales@koonerfms.co.uk or have a look at www.kooner.co.uk
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