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BRAKE PRO, LTD. TECH BULLETIN
For your information
| VOLUME 2, #12 |
DETERMINING COSTS PER YEAR ON BRAKES
Maintenance costs are on the rise in every
sector of the heavy-duty market. The expense of keeping vehicles on the
road seems to increase with each and every service or breakdown. Brake
expenses can be a substantial part of maintenance if careful study and
research are not done to determine how much per mile your brakes are costing
you.
The average brake job is not an inexpensive task if done right. Considering the costs of the friction material, hardware, drums, and seal kits it can add up to a hefty dollar value. However, the price of premium friction material does not add up to much more when viewed over the long run.
When determining how much your costs are for a premium quality brake friction reline, you must take into consideration how many relines are done in the life of the vehicle. If your relines are done every six months with standard friction material, it may not be a benefit if you could achieve relines every twelve months with premium friction material. Cost per mile is the only true way that you can determine if you are wasting money doing brake relines and service.
PLANNING AND RECORD KEEPING ARE THE ANSWER
Each unit in your inventory, either drive unit or trailer, should
have a record of all the maintenance information during the life of the
unit. Mileage should be recorded and maintained to enable you to determine
the intervals of maintenance. With brakes this is also extremely important.
If you can reduce the number of brake relines by half, your cost per mile
for brake service is also reduced by at least 50%. This can be accomplished
by using a better grade of friction material when doing the relines after
the original friction has worn out.
By planning the number of times you should do brakes according to the amount of time the original friction material lasted, you can increase the amount of time the second and all other sets of lining wear over and above the mileage of the first reline.
By keeping careful records of all the maintenance you do to each unit, along with the mileage intervals, you can predict each life span for consumable products such as tires, brakes and other necessary items. A good records system is invaluable to a maintenance manager or service manager to determine if the equipment is living up to its capacity for efficient performance.
Better records can assist you in preventing oil in the air brake system, brake linings with short life expectancy, and poor overall performance in the braking system. Another benefit of this record keeping is part of the time you can recover for other work.
We would much rather see maintenance facilities involved in service and repair to vehicles that are in need of repairs, rather then just trying to keep up with the demands of broken parts.
