On Your Radar: Four Fleet Maintenance Trends for 2025

To accurately forecast trends for the coming year, some consideration must be given to the past. In recent years, utility fleet leaders – in addition to their many other responsibilities – have been tasked with safely guiding employees through a pandemic while also trying to stay on top of an ever-increasing number of new vehicles and vehicle technologies flooding the market. A look at the next 12 months suggests these trends will persist, with the technology sector moving full steam ahead as the fleet community continues to act on business lessons learned during the COVID-19 years.

Proactive Predictive Maintenance
Current technology enables fleet managers to fine-tune asset maintenance intervals. By analyzing the data provided by telematics and fleet management information systems, fleets can avoid performing vehicle maintenance services too often or too late, saving time and money. Although manufacturers do provide maintenance guidelines for their vehicles and equipment, each asset’s operating environment makes their service timing unique.

Dale Collins, CAFM, fleet supervisor for Virginia-based Prince William Water, said fleet data helped him learn more about the utility’s diesel trucks that are operated in urban environments. In the past, the trucks weren’t given the opportunity to burn off matter collected in their diesel particulate filters. When Collins recognized this, he added a DPF regeneration or cleaning to the list of services to be performed on the trucks when they’re brought into the shop.

“This is huge for diesel trucks with aftertreatment equipment,” he said. “It’s incredibly easy for DPFs to plug up in an urban environment or an idle-heavy environment. With proactive, predictive maintenance, you can keep a truck up and running, and you can bring it in for service at a time of your choosing instead of when you experience a failure – because we all know those never happen when it’s convenient.”

Forecasting for Parts Needs
To avoid future shortages – such as those they experienced earlier this decade – fleets are regularly assessing their parts inventories.

“Fortunately, pandemic-induced supply constraints have subsided, and the vast majority of parts are now readily available,” said Chris Foster, director of North American fleet management services for Holman (www.holman.com). “There are some minor limitations on certain parts for new models – as is typically the case anytime a new model comes to market – but those issues are relatively niche.”

Even so, Collins has adjusted Prince William Water’s fleet inventory strategy in hopes the department won’t be caught empty-handed again.

“We forecast what is a reasonable number of materials to have on hand,” he said. “As an organization, we have decided that we want to have a 90-day supply of regular maintenance items like brakes and belts. Then we’ve identified some critical equipment and vehicles that we need to make sure we have a backup for – let’s say a controller for a crane or the main controls for a flusher combination sewer truck. Yes, it eats up some of your storage space and some of your capital. The way we look at it is, it’s there when you need it.”

Addressing the Technician Shortage
Much to the chagrin of fleet managers across the country, the technician shortage has become an enduring industry trend.

“[It’s] having a profound impact on vehicle downtime and maintenance costs,” Foster said. “There is a critical shortage of qualified technicians throughout North America, and as demand grows, most maintenance vendors find themselves increasing wages to hire and retain technicians. This is driving labor rates significantly higher, increasing pressure on already strained maintenance budgets. Unfortunately, there’s little – if any – relief … on the horizon.”

Collins, who’s experienced the shortage and its impacts firsthand, has devised strategies to help develop young technicians.

“I’ve gotten involved with our local community college, which has an automotive and diesel program,” he said. “Working with them, you can help steer the curriculum and hopefully build a bench of well-educated students who can hit the ground running rather than having to come from ground zero.”

Collins often hires students from the program as summer interns; some have gone on to work in the shop or elsewhere in the organization.

Foster suggested that leaning on maintenance providers can help fill gaps left by the tech shortage: “We advise our customers to align with full-service, national account vendors to optimize their maintenance program. Through these strategic partnerships, your vendors become familiar with your vehicles and operating parameters, helping you get back on the road quickly to minimize downtime. Additionally, you’re able to leverage this relationship for volume pricing to help mitigate rising maintenance costs.”

Preparing to Service EVs
Fleets that invest in electric vehicles must consider how the vehicles will be serviced. Currently, numerous utilities have EVs that are still under warranty, putting the service burden on the OEMs for now, particularly if electrical system maintenance is required.

According to Foster, “As a growing number of fleet operators begin to add electric/hybrid vehicles to their fleet mix, the biggest challenge from a maintenance perspective is ensuring there is an adequate dealership network across their operating footprint to properly service these units.”

He also noted that because EVs and hybrids are typically heavier than their ICE counterparts due to battery weight, “you’re going to see an increase in brake and tire wear. Fleet operators should plan to replace the brakes and tires on these units more frequently, which will also increase maintenance costs.”

Collins is thinking through two items in the near term to prepare for future EV maintenance work at Prince William Water: providing appropriate training for his team and dedicating one or more bays to EV services.

“The proper tools and training and a dedicated bay are pretty much what you need,” he said. “We’re working on that here, but it’s definitely a work in progress.”

About the Author: Shelley Mika is the owner of Mika Ink, an Omaha, Nebraska-based branding and marketing communications agency. She has been writing about the fleet industry since 2006.