NASHVILLE. Michelin Americas Truck Tires is adding a new facet to its U.S. truck tire service locations: a new national “truck care” network of mechanical service providers for trucks with dedicated fleet maintenance managers and technicians, focused on providing preventive maintenance (PM) and light mechanical work.
“Prices for nee truck have climbed 30%, the cost of maintenance is up 60%, it’s becoming harder and harder to find qualified technicians, and many OEM dealers are increasingly backlogged with work,” Bruce Stockton, Michelin’s truck care program manager, explained to Fleet Owner here at the 2014 Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting.
He added that Michelin isn’t viewing its new “truck care” service as a maintenance outsourcing tool for fleets; rather it’s a way for fleets to manage maintenance overflow, shop underutilization, and even provide basic maintenance coverage in areas where it might provide too costly for a fleet to open a full service shop.
Michelin noted its new “truck care” network is currently comprised of 50 locations, which it expects to expand to 100 by the end of this year. Hallmarks of this new service offering include: mobile maintenance visits, consistent nationwide pricing, an integrated fleet maintenance information system and the assurance of high quality parts.
Specific services include:
- PMs for tractors and trailers that include oil, lube and filter service
- D.O.T. annual inspections
- Electrical repair, including lights, charging and starting
- Brake adjustments, repair and replacement
- Wheel-end work to include seals and bearings
- Suspension repair and replacement
- Mud flaps
- Minor body repair to trailers and other service repairs
- Reefer PM services
The tire maker added the information platform developed by TMW Systems for its new “truck care” network will be able to interface directly with fleet asset management systems to feed repair data automatically into a carrier’s maintenance databases, regardless of the fleet’s software.
The TMW system also interfaces with Michelin's national account billing system, so fleets receive the same prices nationwide, Michelin said, while also allowing access to repairs, complete maintenance records and billing 24/7, plus fleet dashboard analytics provide up-to-date maintenance visibility and historical analysis.
Michelin added that it will continuously audit its “truck care” procedures and services to ensure standardized quality throughout the network and consistent parts and labor pricing, using standard repair times and vehicle maintenance reporting standards coding, while providing a national warranty to back up all parts and labor.
