Unlike maintaining your vehicle that came new from the manufacturer, taking care of a commercial truck used is a little bit different since you certainly want to maximize the remainder of its serviceable life. Although many commercial trucks are sold as reconditioned, the obvious fact that cannot be ignored is that the majority of the parts replaced on them are ‘used.’ Furthermore, it is entirely likely that some of the joints and engine components are already past their prime condition and may require extra care and maintenance.

In order to make the most out of your investment, it is only reasonable to increase as much as possible the life span of your vehicle. You can only achieve a longer life span if you know how to properly take care of your used commercial truck. Consider the following items as you attempt to achieve this goal.

Owners Manual

Every used commercial vehicle should come with an owner’s manual of some type. It is additionally important for any used truck as it may contain a record of all prior service and maintenance. If one is not available, go to the internet to see if you can download and print a copy for future reference.

This is a most vital tool to help operators determine the right maintenance interval, lubrication, fluid levels, brakes, batteries, wheel pressure, etc. In order to synchronize the values from the manual and put it into application, the manual is paired along with a PM schedule or preventive maintenance schedule.

Preventive Maintenance Schedule

The preventive maintenance schedule is basically a schedule of when to perform certain maintenance and parts replacement based on the truck’s actual mileage and age. All maintenance and repair should be noted on a log and a copy kept with the vehicle so that it is readily available if some mechanical problem arises. If meticulously followed, this basic tool can effectively increase the truck’s serviceable life.

Routine Inspections

Aside from scheduled maintenance, it is also important to check the commercial truck used before taking it out on the road for a job. This should also be done every day while away from your permanent location. Although scheduled maintenance helps prevent a great deal of problems, it would greatly benefit you and your truck to inspect it on your own to look for any ‘clues’ that something problematic may be occurring or nearly-ready to occur. This inspection would also ensure that the commercial vehicle did not sustain damage from any previous trip. These inspections could include the following:

Check the Tires – Before heading out, one of the most important parts you should visually inspect on your truck are the tires. Tires take a lot of abuse, including heavy braking that may cause abnormal wear on pads, heavy loads, rough roads, and ‘operator-caused problems’ from certain driving habits, any of which could easily damage the tire resulting in a blow-out and potential accident.

Always check the air pressure in your tires. It should be whatever is appropriate for the tire and also allow it to handle the weight of the load you are carrying.

Check for any loose lug-nuts and make sure to tighten them before going out on the road for a job.

Check the Radiator – Make sure all the fluid levels in your truck are within the levels recommended by the manufacturer. Don’t forget to consider the weather conditions under which you will operate. If it will be extremely hot, this will affect the fluid level in the radiator. Check under the truck for evidence of any leaks from the radiator that could cause the radiator to run out of fluid before you can return from a job. This could destroy your engine.

Check the Oil - If your truck is a bit old, it's likely to develop small leaks along the engine and the oil train. If so, monitor the oil level regularly so you don’t run out of oil before the next scheduled oil maintenance.

Doing small routine checks along with your regularly-scheduled maintenance schedule should help prevent costly repairs to your commercial truck used vehicle. If scheduled maintenance is done regularly as indicated, it will effectively extend the truck’s usable life span and it may even last longer than new vehicles when well maintained.