Vehicle Maintenance Recordkeeping | J. J. Keller Encompass

Vehicle Maintenance

A thorough and compliant vehicle maintenance program is the cornerstone of a safe transportation operation. Healthy operations demand ongoing vehicle inspection, repair, and upkeep. FMCSA requires these — and more — as integral facets of every motor carrier’s safety program to ensure vehicles remain in a safe and reliable condition at all times. Encompass delivers with the features that help you avoid costly violations, out-of-service downtime, and customer service or delivery issues.

It also helps you to stay on top of vehicle costs by giving you visbility to expenses and repairs associated with each vehicle.

Encompass provides:

Customizable inspection criteria and maintenance schedules, including checklists
Notifications for expired items, 30- and 60-day PM schedules, and out-of-service vehicles
Parts inventory management
Cost tracking for internal and external repair orders, parts, depreciation, and more
Daily vehicle inspection tracking to meet FMCSA requirements and best practices

Encompass helps carriers manage the processes, data, and records that are intrinsic to a low Vehicle Maintenance BASIC score, which FMCSA views as one of the key BASICs with a high correlation to crash risk. Carriers that operate safe, road-worthy vehicles can expect less roadside inspections, better CSA scores, and less accidents.

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"I like the maintenance alerts in Encompass. We're able to quickly see which trucks need safety inspections."

Tim Booth

Lead CDL Instructor

"Other companies just have electronic logging. They don't have the DOT recordkeeping that Encompass has. Without it, you're going to have a tough audit. With Encompass, you really get what you pay for."

Neal Prichard

Transportation Manager

"Other fleet management systems seemed cumbersome in comparison to Encompass. Encompass works smoothly so we can keep our drivers moving and not have road check problems. What we like most about Encompass is the simple layout. Our drivers can adapt to it quickly. With Encompass, we are able to get any data we need."

Gary Henry

Treasurer

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Maintenance Planning Tools

Encompass makes managing your fleet vehicles easier with:

Alerts and notifications for scheduled and pending maintenance to allow for efficient and convenient scheduling among teams
Secure access to vehicle information based on location, vehicle type, make and size, as well as allowing for customizable parameters
Visbility to all related costs, including external services, parts and labor, and depreciation

Detailed Recordkeeping

Encompass also allows for detailed recordkeeping to assist with establishing a compliant maintenance program. With more than 75 fields, Encompass helps you assemble organized and accessible equipment files for each vehicle so you can keep track of related costs, fleet age and health, and other pertinent information.

Plus, your drivers can use the Encompass® DVIR app so you can stay on top of vehicle and unit mileage and odometer readings and daily inspections. All the information feeds automatically into the Encompass back office, allowing you to proactively schedule maintenance and repairs.

FAQs

Records of all inspection, maintenance, lubrication, repairs, and upcoming maintenance are to be kept for one year while the unit is in service, and six months after the unit leaves service (§396.3).

To be qualified to work on brakes in the eyes of the FMCSA, the individual must meet the training and/or experience requirements established in Section 396.25. This generally requires either extensive training, one year of supervised experience working on brakes, or a combination of the two. They must also understand the related regulations, and the tools and techniques necessary to conduct maintenance inspections.

The motor carrier is responsible for verifying and documenting the technician’s qualifications. Basically, the carrier must document and review the technician’s qualifications, and compare them to the requirements listed in Section 396.25. If the technician meets or exceeds the requirements, then the technician can be considered a “brake inspector,” and can inspect, maintain, and repair brakes. If the technician does not, then the technician will need to get more training and/or experience before being allowed to work on vehicle brakes unsupervised.

It’s important to have policies and procedures in place related to your vehicle maintenance. Policies and procedures define the “what” and “how” of a motor carrier’s operations. Policies establish the guidelines for how motor carriers operate and how their employees are to behave in a given situation. Procedures explain how to accomplish those policies.

When applied to vehicle maintenance, some procedures could include:

Maintenance scheduling procedures
Shop assignment priorities
On-road purchase order procedures
Inspecting vehicles
Vehicle out-of-service procedures

Pretrip – A full and complete inspection of the vehicle. The driver is not to operate the vehicle and must contact maintenance immediately if any defects are discovered during the pretrip. The driver is also to determine if there are any outstanding DVIRs for the vehicle. If there are, the driver is to verify that any necessary repairs have been completed and sign the DVIR.

Enroute – An inspection of the cargo securement devices after the first 50 miles, every three hours, 150 miles, or the next duty change, whichever comes first. If the driver is transporting hazardous materials, the driver is to check the tires at the beginning of the trip, each time the vehicle is parked, and at the end of the trip. If any defects are identified, the driver is to immediately contact maintenance.

Post-trip – A full and complete inspection of the vehicle, with the exception of components that are affected by heat and/or operation (such as fluids, at-the-wheel brake components, exhaust components, etc.). If any defects are discovered, or the driver is aware of any pre-existing defects, the driver is to immediately submit a DVIR. If the driver is the next driver to operate the vehicle, the driver is to verify that any necessary repairs were completed before operating the vehicle.

Build Your Compliance Knowledge

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Vehicle Maintenance