Fleet Maintenance in Indian Trail, NC

A fleet maintenance program puts each truck on a schedule for preventive maintenance and annual inspections, and takes care of the repairs those visits turn up.

The fleets that use Elite Diesel Solutions call the shop for whatever their trucks need: PM on the schedule each fleet sets, DOT annual inspections, repairs, and a road call when a truck stops on the road.

About 20 technicians do the work in-house, from diesel engine repair and transmission repair to brakes, DPF and emissions systems, electrical faults and trailer repair, plus heavy-duty body work and insurance repairs.

Small fleets tend to want a shop that knows their trucks, gives an honest read on each one and lets them talk to the owner.

PM A, B and C are levels of preventive maintenance. A PM A is the basic service done most often. A PM B adds deeper checks and more filters. A PM C is the most thorough service, done least often. The letters are common across the trade, but the checklists are not standard.

How often each level comes due is set by the engine maker's schedule, by miles, engine hours or months, and by the work the trucks do. Stop-and-go routes, long idling and heavy loads call for shorter intervals than highway miles.

The table further down compares the three as the trade usually runs them. At this shop, a fleet has PM done on the schedule it sets.

Yes. The shop does DOT annual inspections in-house on tractors, straight trucks and trailers, so a fleet's inspections, PM and repairs are done in one place.

Every commercial motor vehicle, trailers included, needs a periodic inspection within the previous 12 months. Many fleets have it done at the same visit as a PM, so the truck comes off the road once instead of twice. The DOT inspection page covers what it checks, who may do it and what happens when a truck fails.

Call (980) 313-6059. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If the truck is stopped on the road, one of the shop's 4 service trucks can go out to it, up to about an hour's drive from the shop. When a service truck is free, it usually reaches a truck 30 minutes away in 45 minutes to an hour, and on a busy day it takes longer. See mobile truck repair for how road calls work.

If the truck cannot be fixed where it stopped, the shop can tow it in. If it can be driven safely, it can come straight to the shop.

The shop runs 55 trucks of its own, local and regional, so it knows what a truck off the road costs a fleet. It is not the cheapest shop, and the work is done properly.

From Dennis, the owner. He answers the shop phone himself, evenings and weekends included, so a fleet manager who calls for an update talks to the person who runs the shop.

Reviews mention it. A driver who came in with a radiator leak wrote of very good communication with Dennis and his entire team.

A carrier has to keep a maintenance file for every vehicle it controls: what the vehicle is, when each inspection and service is due, and a record of every inspection, repair and maintenance job, with its date. Defects found at roadside inspections count in the Vehicle Maintenance category of the carrier's CSA measurement.

Keep the invoice from each repair and the report from each annual inspection in that truck's file, so the record is complete when someone asks to see it.

Yes. Fleet accounts get net 30 to 45 terms, and the shop takes payment by check, card, cash, Zelle, Apple Pay or Cash App.

Use the fleet account form at the top of this page, or call (980) 313-6059, and the shop sets the account up with you.