5 Basic Truck Maintenance Tips

Whether you drive a small delivery truck or a mammoth eighteen wheeler, performing maintenance on your vehicle should be high on your list of priorities. After all, if you own the truck, then it’s essentially your primary business partner and if you drive for a freight or trucking company, then your truck is like your colleague.

Undergoing a thorough maintenance check and performing the basic maintenance procedures regularly will save you time and money in the long run by keeping the truck in good condition.

In a report issued by the National Truck Accident Research Centre in 2013, five percent of crashes were caused by mechanical failure. When you consider the number of trucks on the road at any one time, those statistics are startling.

Here is our list of the 5 most important maintenance checks to carry out on a regular basis:

Cleaning Your Truck

Long haul trucks are constantly exposed to severe conditions, including unimaginable road surfaces ranging from flood waters to hundreds of kilometres of dust and gravel to narrow bridges and steep inclines. That’s why we are listing truck cleaning as the number one maintenance tip. You can do the cleaning yourself or have a professional company like AMC Melbourne   perform a total clean for you.
 

Many of the lines and couplings from the cabin to the trailer are located along the backbone, so a clean vehicle makes it easier to spot faults, tears, or inconsistencies along the inner core. Washing off any road debris and dirt will make your business partner look as it should and will help ensure the longevity of the paintwork.

Don’t Forget Oils and Filters
 

Checking the basics like oil, batteries and coolant is a no-brainer, but its important to remember that the transmission oil and filter should be changed regularly, depending on how much work and how many kilometres the truck has been subjected to.

Check the Electrical System Regularly
 

Regularly checking the electrical system can save your life and possibly someone else’s. Start at the front of the cabin and work your way around the truck, systematically checking every light, warning device and electronic signal. Once again, this regular maintenance check may be time consuming but it means that you and the other people on the road are a lot safer because of it.

Standard Tyre Checking
 

Once your truck has had a thorough cleaning, give them a standard safety check. This should include pressure, tread, and sidewall condition, making sure you pay extra attention looking for splits and tears that may not be immediately visible. For added security, roll the truck forward enough that a different side of the tyres is visible.

Remove Any Loose Items
 

Check the cabin for loose items that can become missiles in an emergency. Bin anything that’s not necessary and safely secure anything important. Be sure to always have a bottle of filtered water in the cabin as well as two or three protein bars in case you get stuck somewhere for more than a couple of hours.

A regular maintenance check not only saves you money it also saves time in the long run. Think about it: Wouldn’t you prefer to change a faulty tail light globe in the comfort of your own surroundings than in the middle of the desert?