Running a fleet isn’t just about keeping the vehicles fuelled and insured. The real challenge? Keeping everything on the road, running smoothly, without delays or breakdowns throwing your schedule into chaos.
Whether it’s a few vans or a full-scale operation, service coordination can make or break your efficiency. And when it’s off, you feel it: missed deadlines, unhappy clients, rising costs. But when it’s right? Everything just flows.
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Start with a Clear Maintenance Plan
You can’t coordinate what you haven’t planned. Having a reactive approach to servicing—only booking vehicles in when something goes wrong—might work short-term. But long-term, it leads to surprise costs and downtime.
Set up a schedule that includes:
- Regular servicing based on kilometres and usage
- Pre-booked service dates that align with your least busy times
- Safety checks at set intervals (especially for high-use vehicles)
- A buffer for unexpected repairs
The goal is to be proactive, not reactive. Plan so well that breakdowns become rare, not routine.
Know Your Fleet Inside Out
Sounds basic, but many service issues come down to not knowing the full picture. Keep accurate, up-to-date records for each vehicle. That means more than just rego and model—it includes service history, common issues, replacement cycles for parts, tyre wear, and more.
When you know what’s been done and when, you don’t double-up or delay something that’s overdue.
Keep these details clear and easy to access:
- Last service date
- Kilometres travelled since last check
- Any flagged issues from the last inspection
- Next service due date
This doesn’t need to be fancy—just reliable. If you’ve got 20+ vehicles, centralising this info matters even more.
Communicate Like Clockwork
Service coordination isn’t just booking a mechanic and ticking a box. It’s managing people, vehicles, and time. That means strong communication about fleet servicing timelines across your team. Let drivers know in advance when their vehicle will be off the road. Give enough notice so they can plan routes and deliveries. If someone’s out sick or a vehicle needs to go in early, everyone needs to be in the loop—fast.
Set a process:
- Service reminders go out a week before
- Confirmed bookings are shared with drivers
- Delays or changes are flagged immediately
- All updates are kept in one place
Don’t leave anything to chance. A missed message can mean a missed job.
Build Solid Relationships with Your Mechanics
The workshop you work with isn’t just a supplier; they’re a partner in keeping your fleet running. When they know your business, your vehicles, and your priorities, everything moves quicker.
Stay consistent. If you can, stick with one workshop or a small group that understand your standards and time pressures. Over time, they’ll become an extension of your team, not just a vendor.
Here’s what makes that work:
- Be upfront about turnaround times you need
- Give them advance notice when big services are coming
- Share service records—they’ll work faster with context
- Ask for heads-up on parts that might cause delays
A good relationship also means more flexibility when you need it most.
Work Around the Workload
There’s no point taking two vehicles off the road on the same day if they both cover the same area. Smart service coordination means looking at your operational calendar and choosing service dates that won’t hurt delivery targets.
Use quieter periods to knock out multiple bookings. Avoid peak times unless something’s urgent. And always have a backup plan, whether it’s a spare vehicle or rerouting jobs between drivers.
Track Downtime (and Learn from It)
Keeping things running well means learning from when they don’t. Track every bit of downtime due to service or breakdown. Not just the cost, but the impact:
What was delayed?
How long was the vehicle out?
Could it have been prevented?
Did the driver report the issue in time?
Review monthly. Patterns will start to show. Maybe one vehicle is a problem child. Or maybe a delay in parts is a recurring issue. This is where your service strategy can evolve—fewer surprises, more control.
Don’t Overlook the Admin
Coordinating services sounds like a hands-on job, but the admin behind it matters just as much. A missed email, a double-booked vehicle, or unclear records can snowball into major disruption.
Pick one system for bookings, logs, reminders, and records—and stick to it. Whether it’s digital or a trusty old spreadsheet, consistency is what matters. Everyone involved in the fleet should be using the same source of truth.
And don’t let paperwork pile up. Service records should be updated immediately. The longer you leave it, the messier it gets.
One Step Ahead, Always
At the end of the day, service coordination is about control. Not just reacting when something breaks, but steering the whole system so problems don’t get a chance to snowball.
When you get it right, you’ll notice:
- Fewer breakdowns
- Less downtime
- Better driver satisfaction
- Lower costs across the board
The trick isn’t doing more—it’s planning better, communicating clearly, and never letting service be an afterthought. Because when the fleet runs smoothly, the whole operation does too.
