Most fleet maintenance shops have a parts room. In some it is a tidy cage with a parts clerk. In many it is a few rows of shelving where filters, lamps, brake parts and shop supplies are stacked wherever there was space. Nobody counts, nobody sets minimums, and the first sign of trouble is a tech who cannot find the filter for a PM.
If your company runs that parts room, you become part of the fleet's operation, not just one of its vendors.
Bin labels and scanning
The app prints barcode bin labels for every shelf and bin. Put them on the oil filters, fuel filters, air dryer cartridges, brake chambers, lamps, wiper blades and the boxes of shop towels and nitrile gloves. Any tech or parts clerk can scan a label with a phone and the item goes into the cart. If you or the shop do a weekly walk with a scanner gun, those scans can be uploaded together.
Each bin can hold a minimum and maximum. When someone counts a bin, the app shows a suggested order: the max, minus what is on hand, minus what is already on order, rounded up to the pack. Filters come in cases, lamps in boxes, and the rounding keeps the order sensible.
On-site programs for bigger fleets
A fleet with several terminals, or a big municipal garage with more than one parts room, needs more than labels. The on-site program gives the customer one page for their operation: a dashboard where they tap any parts room, cabinet or rack to see its bins, a floor plan pinned with every location, and what is on hand and where. A new tech can find the spare starter or the hub seal without asking around.
A good fleet parts program usually covers:
- Bin labels on every shelf, printed from the app.
- Min and max set on PM items like filters, belts, oil and coolant.
- Phone counts with the suggested reorder done for you.
- Receiving on a phone, checked against what was ordered.
- A floor plan so you and the fleet see the same layout.
Counts, receiving and slow-moving parts
In your own warehouse, counts and receiving work on a phone and are sent to your system to post, which saves keying in counts from paper.
Fleet work comes with a familiar risk: the special part. A fleet asks you to stock parts for a specific body, a liftgate model or an older engine. Then they sell off those units and you are left with the inventory. Dedicated custom inventory agreements handle that. The customer signs for the items stocked just for them, gets notices at six months and then at 90, 60 and 30 days, and anything left is invoiced at twelve months. You can stock the special parts the fleet needs without taking all the risk.
A well-run parts room is good for the fleet manager too. PMs go faster when the filters are on the shelf. Trucks get back on the road sooner. And the shop stops paying for rush deliveries because somebody forgot to order brake shoes.
Once your labels are on the shelves and your counts drive the reorders, it is a lot of work for a competitor to dislodge you. Start with one fleet that keeps calling you for the same filters in a hurry, and build from there.
Want to walk through it with your own shop and fleet customers? Book a demo.