Fleet Maintenance Magazine

19/05/2025

With summer on its way, everyone's going to want some ice cream, which means that Turkey Hill, an ice cream maker in the northeast U.S., needed to make sure its trucks were ready to delivery.

This lead to the company switching to a full-service leasing model with Ryder.

“Fleet maintenance was a big part of why we chose Ryder,” said Christine Bense, chief operating officer at Turkey Hill. “It was difficult to keep up with the demand for and training of the technicians, changing regulations and technology, while also competing with large providers to pay technicians what they should be paid."

For more details on how Turkey Hill leveraged Ryder's service options, see Seth Skydel's piece below.

After switching to a leasing model and turning over maintenance to Ryder, Turkey Hill believes it has ensured more reliable deliveries of its iconic ice cream flavors. The company...

15/05/2025

The Trump Administration's pro-business approach might hint to some fleets that the time is ripe to win some extra horsepower by removing or bypassing emissions systems components. But that would be inadvisable, according to fleet experts.

“I don’t believe the EPA is going to back off of the federal regulations that are already on the books,” said Bruce Balfour, vice president of Clean Diesel Specialists (CDS), a diesel emissions service and equipment company with a nationwide network of owned and affiliated shops. “As of now, it’s still 100% illegal to modify an emissions system.”

To learn more about how diesel deleting restrictions work and what drives some fleets to delete, see Gregg Wartgow's story below.

Tampering with aftertreatment devices is still illegal, and the true cost of cheating and deleting can extend far beyond the massive fines you could receive.

14/05/2025

Even though social media and video might not feel like a traditional shop's purview, they do present a great resource to attract the next generation of technicians.

“Technicians are going to go check you out,” said Christopher Lawson, founder of Technician Find. “They’re going to check out your social media profiles. They’re going to look at your reviews.” But this doesn't need to be intimidating. In fact, social media can help shops shine, especially during recruitment.

For tips on how to make sure that happens, see Alex Keenan's article below.

While social media can be intimidating for a shop that prides itself on throughput and uptime instead of posts and likes, the internet can be a powerful recruitment tool.

13/05/2025

In the ongoing quest to make the perfect hire, one of the most common battlefields for fleets and shops is the job board, of which there are plenty of options. However, they do come with an inherent problem.

“The facts are, if a technician is good, they’re skilled, they have a good attitude, and they want to work, they’re already working,” said Chris Lawson, founder of Technician Find. This means "You really have to think beyond the job board."

For tips on how to do this, see Alex Keenan's piece below.

When it's time to recruit a new employee to your fleet or shop, having a strong job post on your website or a recruitment board is a critical first step to making the hire.

12/05/2025

For fleets with electric vehicles, they can be caught between extending a battery's overall life and charging them as quickly as possible for maximum uptime, since DC fast-charging and hot climates tend to accelerate EV degradation. But now, Flux Power says that is has developed the Intelligent Cycle Life Maximization Algorithm to help.

“This algorithm uses real-time machine learning to tune battery cycling behavior based on actual usage patterns in the field, significantly extending system life and efficiency,” Flux Power CTO Paulus Geantil explained. This will allow batteries to 'learn' how it is being used and center its power capacity around 50%, extending battery life overall.

For more details, see John Hitch's story below.

Flux Power may have found the key to slowing battery degradation by optimizing individual battery's state-of-charge range.

12/05/2025

In a shop or fleet, the hiring process can straddle the line between tedious and repetitive but also urgent and costly if left undone. So, making sure you can find the right person efficiently can be a delicate balance.

This process is always going to start with identifying what kind of person you're looking for, and then figuring out the best way to find them, whether through a recruiter or on a job board. If the cost of having a position empty (or having the wrong person in the position) outweighs the cost of the recruiter, the recruiter investment return is higher, according to Debbie Taylor, principal and executive search consultant for Taylor Transportation Search Group. If it's not, maybe you don't need a recruiter or the position itself.

For more details, see Alex Keenan's story below.

Hiring may feel like a recurring chore for fleets and shops, but there’s no shortage of tools to smooth out the process.

12/05/2025

Are your KPIs driving real fleet improvement? Join us for a webinar on May 14th to learn how to set smarter, data-driven benchmarks, track success like top-performing fleets, and apply proven strategies to optimize operations.
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09/05/2025

As we head into summer, it's likely that bucket trucks will begin checking and repairing power lines before summer storms begin, meaning that bucket trucks might be a more common sight on the road. These trucks help keep power flowing to homes and businesses, but they need some TLC of their own to do their jobs.

For instance, beyond making sure all warning labels are in place and that booms are aligned, bucket truck inspections might need to check to make sure no animals have made their homes in the booms themselves, explained Hector Varela at CCPS Energy After all, some animals might chew up hydraulic lines to make themselves a nest.

For more details on bucket truck maintenance, see Alex Keenan's story below.

Electricity has quickly become critical infrastructure for Americans, making the high-flying operators that maintain powerlines, and the trucks that keep them in the sky, important...

18/02/2025

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25/10/2023

Here's a look at the 2023 ATA's Technology & Maintenance Council Fall Meeting and National Skills Competition, including interviews with competitors in .

More here: https://bit.ly/3MDwpL9

13/10/2023

Fleet Maintenance Magazine digital edition: has arrived!
See how can be a game changer for your repair crew; for your fleet; and, of course, tips for the system in your shop.

This month’s issue looks at gamification in the shop, winterizing tips, exorcising aftertreatment ghosts, and much more.

12/10/2023

Why president says the union had to "escalate their action" in the against the - Ford Motor Company General Motors and Stellantis:

Wednesday's walk out marks one-month since the strike began as UAW president says Ford isn't taking them seriously.