Help Your Equipment Work Harder and Last Longer with Preventative Maintenance

Every utility equipment owner knows that preventive maintenance is key to keeping a fleet running at peak efficiency. This is especially true in today’s economy as the cost of buying new equipment compared to the cost of investing in preventive maintenance programs significantly impacts a company’s bottom line. Implementing a preventive maintenance program for a company’s utility fleet, based on the manufacturer’s recommended guidelines, keeps equipment costs low and uptime high. 

Fleet Maintenance Programs

Preventive maintenance is a commitment that owners and operators need to make every day. Utility equipment manufacturers like Terex provide equipment owners detailed guidelines on the proper care and maintenance of their equipment.  

A maintenance program should be developed based on the manufacturer’s defined schedule, then customized to fit a customer’s working schedule. Terex recommends maintenance tasks be completed at regular intervals in the equipment’s life cycle.  

Daily: 

Daily maintenance tasks outlined by Terex include a visual inspection of all the machine’s main systems, as well as an operational test of all the outriggers and boom functions. The best people to complete the daily maintenance tasks are the machine’s operating crew because they know the most about the machine’s particular sounds and performance. If any components or functions of the machine are not working properly, then these items need to be brought to the attention of a qualified person to determine if the machine can continue to be used or if the machine must be immediately repaired to ensure the safety and productivity of the machine and its crew. It’s easier to deal with smaller issues up front rather than have something significant happen that requires extensive work. 

Intervals: 

Inspection and maintenance intervals are excellent opportunities for the machine’s operating crew and the company’s service technician or mechanic to have an open discussion about how the machine is being used, the conditions it’s operating in and how it’s performing. During inspection exercises, everyone involved in the machines operation and care needs to look at the machine’s maintenance records to spot any patterns. Time intervals may include 90-day, 180-day, 270-day and annual.  

A utility company’s maintenance program should also include a complete “once-over” check of the machine’s components and functions. Because ANSI prescribes the dielectric integrity of a utility truck’s boom must be tested every year, this is a good time to take care of two important maintenance tasks at one time, reducing downtime and minimizing costs. 

Terex offers preventative maintenance and inspection programs that are tailored to minimize downtime and customized to fit the specific utility’s needs. The programs are available for both new and existing equipment in the utility’s fleet. For more information about these programs, visit Terex Preventative Maintenance Programs