Darcol International, an approved carrier under the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program, has reduced fleet maintenance costs by $55,000 in the company’s first year with the Kenworth program. Darcol realized the savings by outsourcing its maintenance needs and using a maintenance software system, Kenworth PremierCare.
Prior to using PremierCare, the company operated a maintenance shop, supplying it with parts and its own technician.operates an all-Kenworth fleet of 35 trucks, including Kenworth T800s, W900s, and T660s, which routinely cross the U.S.-Canadian border. The company, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, hauls furniture and other just-in-time general freight in dry vans and heavy equipment on flatbed trailers.
“Our customers rely on our promise to deliver their shipments safely and on time,” said Paul Geiger, president and founder of Darcol International. “Having a good preventive maintenance program is absolutely critical to ensuring that our power units are in top shape and we don’t have delays due to equipment failure. That’s why we rely on the Kenworth PremierCare Preventive Maintenance Program to stay on top of truck maintenance.”
Kenworth PremierCare Preventive Maintenance provides fleets of any size a customized preventive maintenance (PM) solution for their trucks, regardless of manufacturer. Since maintenance is as close as the nearest participating Kenworth dealer, fleets like Darcol don’t have to run empty miles to get trucks back to the shop for regular PMs or rely on unfamiliar maintenance shops to complete the work.
Darcol International also realized other benefits. By using the online Kenworth PremierCare Maintenance Manager, Geiger said the company’s dispatchers can schedule regular maintenance and repairs when they fit the company’s delivery schedules. Most PM and repair work is completed at Custom Truck Sales, which arranges to pick up the trucks at Darcol’s facility and then deliver them when the work is completed. The dispatchers receive e-mail alerts when trucks are due for preventive maintenance.
Plus, when Darcol’s trucks are out on the road, drivers can call 1-800-KW-ASSIST to reach the Kenworth PremierCare Customer Center, which operates 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The Kenworth PremierCare representative can make the necessary arrangements, authorize service, and handle all of the financial matters. Darcol dispatchers no longer have to make calls to arrange service, and drivers do not have to worry about billing issues.
The dispatchers also use the Kenworth PremierCare Maintenance Manager’s online service tracker to determine when repairs will be completed. That function is important to Darcol, which offers an online freight tracking and customer order feature on its Web site to provide customers the option to monitor freight while in transit or check the availability of Darcol trucks. Using the information from the Maintenance Manager, dispatchers can update the company’s freight tracking and order system on the Darcol Web site.
