Some truck repairs can’t be put off. But when key vehicles and equipment are pulled off the roster of available vehicles, that can hurt your company’s bottom line and responsiveness to requests. Many companies have a sliding scale of which repairs need to be addressed immediately and which can be put off a little bit longer. That list gets even riskier during the peak seasons when carriers and fleet managers want every truck on hand. But the longer repairs are delayed, the more expensive they will be. Even if damaged parts last until there’s a bit of downtime, it might have caused additional damage along the way, or a reparable issue is now a replacement issue.
When it comes to cosmetic issues, the list of delayed repairs is even longer. But putting off even a new paint job can be a problem. Here’s why:
Corrosion moves quickly.
Your truck’s paint does more than add brand recognition throughout the day and safer visibility down dimly lit roads. It also protects the vehicle against rust. When trucks are used on cross-country routes, they are exposed to a lot of different chemicals and environments. Road salt in the mountains, salty air along the coastline, and scratching sand in the Southwest can all damage that surface layer of protection over time, and multiple sources of damage work even faster.
Once the layer of paint is punctured, corrosion will start to spread from the exposed body material to under the paint where you can’t see it. That means specialists will need to repair or replace the damaged panel. Because trucks have everything from riveted metal to fiberglass or proprietary OEM materials, those repairs won’t be as cheap as just metal used to be.
Paint repair is getting faster, too.
But if you notice exposed panels before rust starts to set in, you have a window of opportunity for fast and cheap repairs. Truck maintenance companies know that scratched or dented paint isn’t going to be your top priority during any season, so they’re making processes that have less downtime. These new processes include better ultraviolet light for faster cure periods and onsite paint application tools so your truck doesn’t have to go from specialist to specialist.
Getting your trucks repaired quickly doesn’t just save your company on repair costs. It also makes you a safer company to insure. Go to J.E.B. Insurance Services, LLC. to see how well-maintained trucks can impact your insurance costs. We provide commercial truck insurance in the states of Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska.
