Fleets outsourcing their maintenance is like going to McDonalds; it is convenient, it satisfies your immediate need, but it is not good for your long term-term health or health costs. Just like McDonalds, there is a time and a place for outsourced maintenance but a long-term exposure to it, in most cases, will shorten the life of your equipment and increase your overall operating costs.
The primary issue between insourced and outsourced maintenance is the difference in time horizons. A properly structured insourced maintenance program has preventative maintenance (PM) as its corner stone. The objectives of a PM program are to identify small problems before they become big problems, ensure the safety of the driver, and reduce roadside events. A properly structured insourced maintenance program, based on these objectives, will lower operating costs, and maximize the life of the asset. In comparison, outsourced maintenance providers are primarily focused on the repair(s) at hand and often are unaware of the previous repair history of the vehicle. At the same time a outsourced provider does not see the long term results of their repairs, unless they are informed by a unhappy customer.
Outsourced maintenance does have a place, such as in remote operations but in the long term, insourcing tends to be a more efficient and effective solution. If your fleet needs help finding the right balance between insourcing and outsourcing of its maintenance, go to www.fleetAMI.com for more information.
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