Mobile Fleet Maintenance: Service at Your Yard

What is mobile fleet maintenance?

Fleet maintenance is the routine service and repair of a group of business vehicles: delivery vans, service trucks, sales cars, box trucks or heavy trucks. With mobile fleet maintenance, the technicians come to your yard, lot or depot and work on the vehicles there, instead of your drivers taking each one to a shop.

The main benefit is time. A vehicle that is serviced in your lot overnight or during a slow hour is not off the road for a shop visit, and your drivers aren’t sitting in a waiting room. It also puts routine work on a schedule you control.

Mobile service has the same limits as any mobile mechanic work. Engine and transmission replacement, alignment, body work and anything that needs a lift or pit still goes to a shop. A good provider will tell you which jobs they will send elsewhere.

What do fleets usually contract for?

Most mobile fleet agreements cover the regular, predictable work that keeps vehicles running, plus a way to call for repairs.

If you run diesel trucks, read our guide to mobile diesel truck repair for DPF, DEF and inspection basics.

How do you build a preventive maintenance schedule?

Start with each vehicle’s owner’s manual or the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule. It sets service by miles, engine hours or time, and often has a separate “severe service” schedule for vehicles that idle a lot, tow, make short trips or run in dust or extreme heat. Many fleet vehicles fit that description.

Then group your vehicles so each technician visit covers several units:

1. List every vehicle with its year, make, model, VIN, unit number and current mileage or hours.
2. Note the service intervals for each one from the manufacturer’s schedule.
3. Group vehicles that come due around the same time so one visit handles several.
4. Build in regular inspections between services, and a way for drivers to report problems.
5. Review the schedule every few months against actual mileage and repair history, and adjust.

If your vehicles are commercial motor vehicles under federal rules, the FMCSA requires you to systematically inspect, repair and maintain them, and to keep a means of showing the nature and due date of the various inspection and maintenance operations (49 CFR 396.3). A written PM schedule is how most fleets meet that.

Can service happen at the yard or after hours?

Yes, and that is often the point. Many mobile providers will work early mornings, evenings or weekends when your vehicles are parked. Before the first visit, sort out the practical details:

• Space. A flat, paved area with room for the service truck and to open doors and hoods. Keep work areas away from traffic lanes.
• Light and access. Good lighting for night work, gate codes, and who has the keys.
• Site rules. Whether your property owner or landlord allows vehicle work on site, and any rules about noise or hours.
• Fluids and waste. Who supplies oil and parts, and who hauls away used oil, filters, coolant and old batteries. Most providers take their waste with them; confirm it.
• Vehicle hand-off. How you’ll flag which vehicles need work, and how the technician reports what was done and anything unsafe to drive.

Our guide to preparing for a mobile mechanic covers the basics for any site visit.

What maintenance records should a fleet keep?

Good records protect your drivers, help you budget and make resale easier. For commercial motor vehicles, federal rules also set minimums.

• Vehicle identification: company number, make, serial number, year and tire size, plus the owner if you don’t own it (49 CFR 396.3).
• Schedule: the nature and due date of inspection and maintenance work (49 CFR 396.3).
• Work records: a record of inspections, repairs and maintenance showing the date and nature of the work (49 CFR 396.3).
• How long: maintenance records must be kept where the vehicle is housed or maintained for 1 year, and for 6 months after the vehicle leaves your control (49 CFR 396.3).
• Annual inspection reports: kept for 14 months from the inspection date (49 CFR 396.21).
• Driver vehicle inspection reports: where a driver reports a defect, the report, the sign-off that repairs were made and the driver’s review must be kept for three months (49 CFR 396.11).

Even if your vehicles fall outside these rules, the same habits are worth keeping. Ask your provider to send a written record after every visit, tied to the unit number and VIN, and to flag any safety item they found. This is general information, not legal advice; check the regulations or your state for your own situation.

What should you ask a mobile fleet maintenance provider?

• Which vehicle types and classes do you service, and do you have diagnostic software for our makes?
• Are your technicians trained on our vehicle types, and do any hold ASE certification in the areas we need?
• If we need annual DOT inspections, do your inspectors meet the federal qualification rules, and will you give us proof?
• How do you price: per vehicle, per service, flat rate or hourly labor rate? What is included in a PM visit?
• What are your hours, and how fast do you respond to a breakdown call?
• Do you use OEM or aftermarket parts, and what warranty do you give on parts and labor?
• How will you send records, and can they go into our fleet software?
• Do you carry liability insurance for work on our property, and can you send a certificate?
• Which jobs will you send to a shop, and do you arrange that?

How much does mobile fleet maintenance cost?

Fleet pricing is usually negotiated, so there is no single going rate. For reference, mechanics we list who publish prices charge about $100–150 an hour for labor and $80–105 for a full-synthetic oil change on a car, though most jobs are quoted flat. Fleet agreements are often priced per vehicle or per service, and some providers offer volume pricing. Larger and diesel vehicles cost more. Get written quotes from more than one provider. Our mobile mechanic cost page covers car and light-truck prices in detail.

What to do next

List your vehicles, their service intervals and where they park overnight, then contact providers with that list. Find mobile mechanics near your yard in our city directory, or send a request describing your fleet.