Stay ahead of the curve with the latest transportation and logistics trends from the experts at Jarrett

Owning a fleet is no easy task. It requires the wearing of many hats, juggling endless responsibilities, ensuring all of your certificates, licenses, and permits are up-to-date and overseeing the operation as a whole. There are not enough hours in the day to get through everything that needs to get done, especially when teams are small and tasks never-ending. 

Operating a truck and trailer is expensive. Whether it is one truck or a fleet of hundreds, fuel is the biggest budget expense. The typical semi-truck averages about 6 miles per gallon but can fluctuate based on the weight of the freight the truck is carrying and whether it is going uphill (where 2 mpg is common) or downhill (up to 20 mpg).

It’s that time of the year: snow will soon be flying and the temperatures will drop so it’s time to get your trucks and fleet ready for winter.

Your truck’s steering and suspension are kind of like your electric or internet service; you might not always think about them because they’re always working, until they aren’t.

We know that as fleet service owners and partners, managing a fleet is much more than ensuring the goods get from Point A to Point B. In fact, there is a tremendous amount of planning, maintenance, inspections, and organization that goes into owning commercial vehicles. Every step is equally important and crucial to the success and safety of the operation. 

The diesel engine is the workhorse of your truck, and the engine that powers shipping and the U.S. economy. It makes a wonderful rumble when it’s running, and the smell of diesel exhaust is like perfume to Jarrett Fleet Services!

Being the owner of a truck or trailer fleet requires critical attention to detail. Maintenance needs to continually be top of mind, and breakdowns and repairs are inevitable. While these are all crucial elements in successfully operating a fleet, two other components are just as important; the safety and comfort of the fleet driver. Safety, of course, is the number one priority in all circumstances for both the driver and others on the road, but driver comfort can get overlooked. Air conditioning, and keeping it operating properly, is a huge factor in the comfortability of the fleet driver as they take on the open road.

Listening to music makes the miles go by faster and having a clean truck makes you look better. For this blog post, Jarrett Fleet Services has combined song titles with reasons why you should keep your truck and trailer clean.

A fully loaded tractor trailer can weigh tens of thousands of pounds, and basic physics teaches us that as the mass (weight) of a moving object increases, the force required to stop it also increases. That’s why the braking system on a semi-truck and trailer are one of its most important components. The braking system used on semi-trucks is the air brake system.

When you are in the transportation industry, regular fleet maintenance is just a fact of life. It can feel laborious and time-consuming, however, it is a crucial element in the safety and durability of your fleet. Regular maintenance should be taken seriously and not overlooked, as it can lead to costly repairs that could have been avoided and compromise the safety of your drivers and others on the road.