Vehicle Maintenance

Control Costs, Improve Vehicle Reliability, and Safety with 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.

Learn More
Vehicle records on laptop

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

Encompass Unit File screen

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

Expand your safety library with free J. J. Keller resources. Over 200 years of collective experience and education — that's the J. J. Keller difference.

Vehicle Maintenance CSA BASIC eWorkbook

Vehicle Maintenance CSA BASIC eWorkbook

Vehicle maintenance CSA violations have a high correlation to crash risk. Learn how to minimize violations with this free eBook.

Download Now
Driver Inspections Critical Vehicle Maintenance Practices

Driver Inspections: Critical Vehicle Maintenance Practices

Inspections are conducted for many reasons but each aim to keep the vehicle operating safely.

Download Now
Vehicle inspections and maintenance compliance brief

Vehicle Inspections & Maintenance Recordkeeping Compliance Brief

Missing vehicle documents can result in fines up to $13,000 for each instance. Learn which documents you're required to keep on file.

Download Now

Thank You!

A J. J. Keller representative will contact you soon, or you can contact us at 855-693-5338.

Error

Sorry, there was an issue in submitting the form. Please resubmit your information.

BACK

I'd like to learn more!

Fill out the form to speak with a Compliance Specialist about Encompass. Or, call 855-693-5338.

(Note: * indicates required information.)

(If not a business, please enter your Full Name in the Company Name field)

By making this request you agree to the J. J. Keller Terms of Use. For information about how we use any personal information we collect for our own purposes, please review our Notice at Collection.

You entered an unknown address:

You didn't enter enough information.