One of the biggest mistakes we see our clients make during difficult economic times is cutting back on annual and monthly preventive maintenance in order to save cash. Most of our clients are operating with 45- to 52-month-old fleets, and most will not be spending CAPEX for the remainder of this year and well into 2011 and possibly 2012. Because of this, it's imperative to keep your fleet in top working order, or your fleet will be dead long before the recession is over.
The other problem with not performing yearly and monthly preventive maintenance is safety. Many of you either have had or will have injuries, or possibly a fatality, and your maintenance records are your main line of defense in litigation.
Many of our banks and manufacturers are asking us to be on the lookout for an abundance of cannibalized equipment, referring to what results when, short on cash, you begin taking parts from other, similar assets. This is a big red flag to your lenders!
Remember, you are fighting for revenue and the quickest way to negate all the hard work your sales team is doing is to send out equipment that is not in ready-to-rent condition.
Questions or comments? Contact Mike Farley at [email protected].
