What should I look for in a trucking company’s preventive maintenance schedule?

Ask to see the schedule itself, then ask how a unit gets flagged when service is due. Does a person check a calendar, or does software prompt it? Whoever owns the process matters, because it may leave with the seller. Find out whether the work is done in an in-house shop or by outside vendors, and ask for the vendor invoices as well as the company’s own sheet.

Take five or six units and trace each from the schedule to a work order to an invoice. Do the odometer or engine-hour readings agree? Do you see the same fault recorded again and again, or a part replaced over and over? Repeat problems are worth a mechanic’s opinion. Ask also about deferred work: anything postponed to keep a truck earning is a cost the next owner inherits.

Finally, walk the shop. Check whether tools, lifts and records are tidy, and talk to the lead mechanic if the seller allows it. Ask who does the pre-trip walk-arounds and how drivers report defects. A culture of reporting small faults early usually shows up in the paperwork too.

Key takeaways

• Trace a handful of units from schedule to work order to invoice.
• Repeat repairs and postponed work point to costs you would inherit.
• Ask who owns the process and whether they stay on.
• Ask the shop how it decides which repairs wait, and who approves deferring a service.