How Fleets Are Looking to Outsource Maintenance and Repairs
Gerry Mead, center, former Senior VP of Maintenance for U.S. Xpress and now with Phillips Industries, was on a panel on Meeting the Parts and Service Needs of Today’s Fleet. Photo courtesy Today’s Trucking
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Data from MacKay & Company consistently shows that fleets say they want to outsource more of their maintenance and repair, but continue to do much of it in-house as they try to find service providers that can meet their needs.
Outsourcing was the first issue discussed by a panel of fleet executives at the recent Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue in Las Vegas. Gerry Mead, former senior vice president of maintenance at U.S. Xpress and current executive director of innovation at Phillips Industries, said when he was with U.S. Xpress his philosophy was “no on loves your fleet like you do.” When the fleet went outside for maintenance it used dedicated shops that had to meet certain qualifications. To help with utilization, U.S. Xpress, scheduled all needed PM services at the same time and tried to schedule PM service on drivers’ home time.
To help manage the technician shortage the fleet works with schools and the armed forces and has also developed mentorship and in-house certification programs. It also invested in training for management. “Most people quit because of bad management,” Mead said, “so we focused on management so they know how to lead.”
Advanced Disposal does all the maintenance and repair on its fleets in-house except for major overhauls at its 90 shops in 16 states. Brian Beaudrie, vice president of corporate maintenance, acknowledges that retaining and training technicians is an issue. Advanced Disposal solution is to create a team environment in its operation based on the philosophy that “it’s easy to quit a job but hard to quit a team.” Part of the effort of creating a team …Read the rest of this story
