How to Prepare Your Fleet for Seasonal Demands
Fleet management faces many challenges, and whilst seasonal changes are predictable, they can easily derail the smooth running of your business if you aren’t sufficiently prepared for them. At Greenhous Fleet Services, we aim to be an informative source of knowledge for all things fleet. In this article we have put together some advice and information about how best to keep your fleet up and running effectively whatever the weather or challenge.
- Seasonal changes create fleet management challenges that can disrupt operations if businesses do not proactively prepare for weather conditions, vehicle performance demands, and fluctuations in your fleet usage.
- Summer fleet maintenance should focus on tyres, cooling systems, air conditioning, and fluid levels, as higher temperatures can increase the risk of tyre failure, engine overheating and fluid evaporation.
- Winter fleet maintenance should prioritise tyre condition, battery health, anti-freeze, fluid levels, and heating systems, helping vehicles maintain traction, reliability, and driver safety in cold and icy conditions.
- Peak business periods increase the risk of breakdowns and maintenance delays, making it important to schedule preventative maintenance and vehicle servicing for your fleet during quieter, off-peak periods in order to minimise downtime.
- Seasonal fleet planning can improve efficiency and reduce costs, strategies such as preventative maintenance and vehicle storage can help businesses protect assets, reduce overheads, and maintain operational readiness throughout the year.
When might your fleet be affected by seasonal demands?
Understanding when your fleet might be affected by these issues is the first step to making sure you can keep your operations running smoothly. Seasonal demands can include anything from changes in weather conditions across winter and summer, to changes in business traffic. We have put together a breakdown of major seasonal demands that may affect your fleet, with some short maintenance checklists to help you keep your fleet moving whatever happens.
In Summer
During summer months your fleet will of course face different challenges. Below are some checks you can introduce to keep your fleet running.
- Tyres – If tyres are over inflated in hotter weather, they could be prone to burst. Make sure you check tyre pressures and general tyre condition, adjusting if necessary.
- Cooling Systems – Warmer temperatures can mean the cooling system for your engine needs to work harder. By inspecting and adjusting coolant levels, hoses and radiators you can help to prevent any overheating.
- Air Conditioning – Make sure your drivers are comfortable and cool in hotter weather by checking the air conditioning systems in your fleet vehicles.
- Fluid Levels – Fluids can evaporate faster in warmer temperatures. Checking things like brake fluid, engine oil and transmission fluid can help to ensure there’s no avoidable breakdowns across your fleet.
In Winter
With the cold weather, difficulties arise that mean the health of your fleet vehicles is key to ensuring you can continue to operate smoothly.
- Tyres – Tyre pressure often decreases as temperatures drop, affecting their traction. Make sure all tyres are inflated to standard requirements or even switch to winter tyres with deeper treads to get increased grip on snowy and icy roads.
- Battery Health – For electric fleet vehicle users, cold weather often leads to quicker battery drainage. Optimise your battery life by testing voltage and consider replacing any weaker batteries.
- Anti-Freeze and Fluid Levels – Best practice is to make sure coolant systems get filled with anti-freeze, and check that the windscreen washer fluid is adequate for those freezing temperatures.
- Heating Systems – Check heating systems are functioning correctly to keep the cabin warm and help with defrosting windows quickly and efficiently.
Over Peak Periods
Peak periods for your business are often the time when fleet maintenance gets overlooked and more breakdowns can happen. Making note of the busiest months for your company in terms of fleet traffic can help you to plan vehicle preparation and maintenance around this, avoiding vehicles being taken out of action when you need them most.
Off-peak periods are the perfect time to consider acting on preventative maintenance for your fleet vehicles. Optimising and maintaining your cars, vans and LCVs at this time can help to avoid unwanted downtime and expense. For those who outsource their fleet maintenance, booking service appointments for your vehicles with your provider during these quieter periods will help you to stay in control and avoid falling victim to the impact of seasonal demands.
Greenhous Fleet Services can offer an extensive vehicle storage service across our six storage sites with maximum capacities starting at 2,000 vehicles. This means that during your business’ off-peak periods, we can keep your cars, vans and LCVs secure when they aren’t needed. Having a seasonal vehicle storage strategy helps to reduce off-season overheads, protecting your fleet from unwanted damage and allowing your business to optimise any available space.
At Greenhous Fleet Services we aim to be a useful source of information for UK businesses requiring dedicated fleet solutions. If you’re looking to acquire of expand your businesses’ vehicle portfolio, get in touch with one of our fleet team today to discuss what fleet solutions we can offer your business.
About the author
Emily Hunt
Junior Digital Marketing Executive
[email protected]