Editorial: Maintain What You’ve Got

A lot of mixed economic news is floating around. Recent issues of Transport Topics and any other business publications can each give you a half-dozen reasons to cringe and be afraid, while there is an almost equal number of reasons to smile and be happy.

An example is our story on p. 1 about January truck tonnage, which did not move at all when compared with the same month last year.

On balance, we say the argument for caution is better than either panic or oblivious delight. A crash into recession is far-fetched, but so is an imminent return to 3% economic growth.

One of the best ways to demonstrate caution to take care of the assets you’ve accumulated — in a word, maintenance.

That is one of the key words in trucking right now as the Technology & Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations meets in Nashville, Tennessee, through March 3.

Maintenance professionals are some of the unsung heroes of trucking. They grind away to make sure tractors and trailers last as long as possible and run safely along the nation’s highways.

If anyone doubts the importance of this work, remember that vehicle maintenance is a critical part of the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability scores that are attached to every truck driver and motor carrier.

The density of TMC’s interests and activities is eye-popping. There are study groups or committees on the big aspects of the business — engines, chassis and brakes, electronics, corrosion control, etc. — and then those groups have task forces that develop recommended practices on how best to accomplish things.

The argument for selfishness does make sense: I want my company and my people to do well, but let my competitors fend for themselves. But the purpose of TMC is to generate as much useful learning on vehicles and their maintenance as possible, and then disperse it as broadly as possible.

Also in this issue, executives of Volvo Trucks North America chime in on maintenance matters, saying that better use of more data allows repair shops to work more efficiently taking better care of equipment. As is the case with all equipment manufacturers these days, there is an obsession with uptime and keeping vehicles rolling, a mantra picked up from their fleet customers.

Maintenance costs money and does not generate revenue by itself, but to borrow from a recent marketing campaign, the amount it saves fleets is truly priceless.