Fleet management for small trucking fleets
Day-to-day fleet management for owner-operators and small fleets: maintenance scheduling, maintenance records, repair coordination and driver coordination, so your trucks spend their time earning instead of waiting.
A truck only earns when it rolls
In a large fleet, one truck in the shop is an inconvenience. In a fleet of two or three trucks, it can be the difference between making payroll and missing it. Every day a truck sits, the truck payment, insurance and driver still have to be covered.
Most breakdowns that sink small carriers didn't start as emergencies. They started as a missed service interval, a defect on a driver inspection report that nobody followed up, or an annual inspection that slipped past its date. Fleet management is the habit of catching those things while they are still cheap.
It is the driver-and-operations step of our operating circle. When the trucks are kept up, the loads get delivered, the invoices go out and the cash comes in.
What fleet management covers
Maintenance scheduling
Preventive maintenance, inspections and service intervals planned around your loads, so the truck is in the shop when it makes sense, not when it breaks.
Maintenance records
Inspection, repair and maintenance records organized truck by truck, ready when an auditor or insurer asks.
Repair coordination
When a truck goes down, we help line up the repair, get the estimate in writing and question charges that don't add up.
Driver coordination
Help keeping drivers, trucks and loads lined up, plus the paperwork that comes with adding a driver.
What the rules expect from every carrier
Maintenance isn't only a cost decision. Federal rules require every motor carrier to systematically inspect, repair and maintain the vehicles under its control, and to keep records of that work (49 CFR 396.3). Each commercial motor vehicle also needs a periodic inspection at least once every 12 months (49 CFR 396.17).
Carriers are often surprised by how quickly those records get asked for. We cover it in FMCSA Can Demand Your Maintenance Files. If your files are behind, our DOT compliance services can help you catch up, and a mock audit shows where the gaps are.
What we keep track of for each truck
- Preventive maintenance intervals and the next service due
- Annual inspection dates
- Defects reported by drivers and whether they were repaired
- Repair invoices and parts records, filed by truck
- Registration and permit renewal dates
- Which driver is assigned to which truck
Drivers are part of the fleet
A truck without a qualified driver doesn't earn. Hiring well, keeping driver files complete and matching drivers to the right trucks and lanes is part of running a small fleet.
Our article 13 Steps to Hiring a New Truck Driver walks through the hiring side. For driver files, see driver qualification files.
- Driver and truck assignments kept current
- Hiring paperwork organized from day one
- Driver files connected to your compliance program
Your fleet has education behind it
Your trucks are monitored, worked and improved by a team with education behind it: students, interns and academics from Freight University, managed by LFS. More people watching your equipment means a stronger company. How we work.
- Equipment monitored by a team
- Maintenance and records kept current
- Managed by LFS
Repair bills you can't explain
Small carriers often get the worst of heavy-duty repair and towing bills. We wrote the Heavy-Duty Repair Transparency and Fairness Act (HD-RTFA) to address predatory repair and towing practices.
Questions and answers
Do you repair trucks?
No. We are not a repair shop. We schedule maintenance, coordinate repairs with shops and keep the records.
What size fleet is this for?
Owner-operators and small fleets running 53-foot dry van, refrigerated (reefer) or power only equipment.
Can fleet management be combined with other services?
Yes. Many small fleets pair it with back office services or dispatch.
Related
Trucking company management for small fleets
We run the back office of your trucking company so the truck keeps moving and the business stays alive.
Back office services for owner-operators
Billing, load paperwork, payment follow-up and IFTA help for owner-operators and small fleets, so the money you earned on the road reaches your bank account.
DOT compliance services for trucking companies
Most small carriers don't lose their authority because they can't find freight. They lose it because they can't show an investigator the records that prove the company…
Driver qualification files done right
Every carrier must keep a qualification file for every driver it uses. The file shows the driver was checked before the first load and is still qualified today.
Heavy-Duty Repair Transparency and Fairness Act (HD-RTFA)
HD-RTFA is model legislation written by Michael Thomas, founder of LFS. It proposes rules to bring fair, open pricing to heavy-duty truck repair, parts and towing, where…
How we work: backed by education
Everything we do at Logistical Forwarding Solutions is backed by education. Your company is managed by LFS, and behind LFS is Freight University: students, interns and…
Talk with us about your fleet
Tell us how many trucks you run, what equipment and what keeps going wrong. We will reply with how we can help.
Prefer the phone? Call 901-205-9679.