Not all inspections are equal
Are you getting the inspection service that you think your paying for?
Feb 14, 2012 -- Over and over we see vehicles that
come and go. Our loyal customers have grown to not
only expect that we look a little deeper than our
competitors but many appreciate it. Some may argue
that we are looking for problems and to them I would
say "You are correct". Remember the old saying "an
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" well
that applies to maintenance as well. In any good
maintenance routine there is also good inspection.
Fact: Maintenance and repair are not interchangeable
words, they have significant differences. Maintenance
is the work required to sustain the state of safe
operation. Repair is the work required to fix
something that has broken or inoperable.
Generally speaking it's less expensive to
Maintain a vehicle than it is to Repair it.
For example one of our customers (who shall remain anonymous) has
brought their fleet to us for repairs, however they have taken their vehicles
to other shops for maintenance. As the pictures above show a lack of
maintenance lead to a failure which in turn resulted in a repair.
The reason I bring this picture to your attention is because many fleets
have their vehicles inspected via D.O.T. standards. Nowhere on the
federal motor carrier annual vehicle inspection form does it refer to battery
condition. Yet this could have easily caused a fire or explosion. The wire
illustrated above was a positive wire and it conducted enough energy
through the plastic housing of the battery to cause such an arch that it
melted a hole through the top of the battery. Had this vehicle been
properly maintained, this would have been addressed far before the wires
turned green, let alone melted the battery. I'm not blaming the customer
here they have been paying a reputable local business to perform their
maintenance. Unfortunately they were not getting their moneys worth.
Northern Michigan Diesel Inc.