Fleet Maintenance - 21

require portable equipment? The environment
must be a flat surface and a large enough area to
fit the vehicle and all necessary equipment.
Once the equipment has been acquired and the
location has been established, technician training
is the next crucial step.
"Technician training is strongly recommended
to ensure an understanding of how the equipment operates and what the
alignment readings are telling them about the truck,"
Hendrickson's Knutson says.
Many alignment system
companies include setup
and on-site training. Some
companies may even provide
additional training , if
requested, on-site or at the
company's facility.
Similar to researching the
alignment equipment, it is also
best to make sure the company
representative is knowledgeable in vehicle alignments.
"I've seen trainers who come
in and just say to throw this
on, do this, adjust it until it's in
the green, then take the equipment off, and you're done,"
Ashal says. "Whoever is doing
the training has to stress how
to properly use the equipment
to get the correct numbers."
It's imperative for a technician to know from the start
how to handle the alignment
equipment, capture the correct
measurements, and make the
correct adjustments. If not
done properly, it won't take
long for the vehicle to end up
back in the shop.

success of a vehicle alignment program is to
compare tire and fuel expenses from before implementation to after.
"Fleets that have implemented alignment
programs usually see a reduction in operating
expenses, providing a good return on investment,"
Hunter Engineering's Lemnah says.
When fleets establish an in-house vehicle align-

ment program, it cannot only provide convenience
but also cost savings and control. With the number
of expenses that fleets already face, being able to
have a better handle on tire wear and fuel mileage
can prove beneficial.
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Evaluating the
success of the
program
After establishing a vehicle alignment program, it is
important for fleets to evaluate its success. By doing
so, f leets can determine
the program's overall effectiveness and learn where
improvements can be made.
According to TMC's RP 642,
proper records help judge
the overall effectiveness of
a maintenance program and
provide support for changes in personnel, equipment,
facilities, or procedures. Good
recordkeeping can also help a
fleet decide if an annual alignment is best, or if six-, nine-, or
18-month intervals would be
more cost-effective.
One way to calculate the

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Fleet Maintenance

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fleet Maintenance