How Ford Mobile Service Simplifies Fleet Care for Quest Transportation
Effective fleet management is crucial to success when you’re a small operation. In Menifee, California, an inland community in Riverside County with just under 120,000 residents, Fleet and Equipment Supervisor Blaze Misev makes up a quarter of the city’s four-person fleet division.
His small team manages and maintains the city’s 300+ vehicles and pieces of equipment, which support a diverse array of divisions — from police and public works to engineering, finance, and parks and recreation — and include a variety of Ford trucks, SUVs, and sedans.
“We have a solid crew, but we’re a very small division with only three service bays,” he said. “We handle almost all vehicle maintenance within a single combined parts and service division.”
Because of the size of their team and space limitations, Misev and his crew try to complete maintenance and repairs on a vehicle within the same day.
“Any unfinished work reduces our available workspace for the next day,” he said. “If we leave a repair unfinished, we only have two bays left. If another unit needs repair, we’re down to just one.”
“We have a solid crew, but we’re a very small division with only three service bays.”Blaze Misev, Fleet and Equipment Supervisor
Increased Vehicle Uptime With Ford Mobile Service
The in-house crew handles the bulk of preventative vehicle maintenance, but safety recalls and in-warranty repairs typically require a trip to a dealership. For Misev, these trips are an unwelcome disruption.
“Our city is around a 30-minute drive one way to any local dealership, so we have to utilize two people to take a unit and bring it back,” he said. “That’s 50% of our staff.”
It doesn’t help that the interstate corridor is known for gridlock traffic, which can further extend the time commitment. The labor and downtime costs of these trips really add up.
“An off-site repair costs us 2.5 to 3 hours of labor, plus the actual repair cost,” Misev said. “Then, there’s the cost of lost productivity due to the vehicle being out of service.”
To help lower costs, increase vehicle uptime, and balance efficient fleet management with limited resources, Misev and his crew started using Ford Mobile Service1 through Gosch Ford Temecula, a Commercial Vehicle Center. With over 700 centers across America, Ford Pro Commercial Vehicle Centers are designed to meet the needs of commercial customers by providing specialized tools and services to minimize downtime and ensure fleet vehicles are back on the road as quickly as possible.
All Ford Service customers can take advantage of complimentary Mobile Service appointments from participating dealers, including retail, fleet, commercial, and government customers.
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Using Ford Mobile Service, fleet leaders like Misev can schedule a technician to come directly to them, whether the vehicle is out on a worksite or at a centralized depot. In Misev’s case, he brings the vehicles that need to be serviced back to the city’s shop so the Ford Mobile Service technician can work right from the parking lot.
Misev has nothing but good things to say about the ease of scheduling with Gosch Ford Temecula, and he gives Gosch’s Parts and Service Director Rachelle Long a lot of credit for her professionalism and dedication to personalized service.
“Scheduling with Rachelle and Gosch Ford is so simple,” Misev said. “We just park the vehicles right outside our shop. The Ford Mobile Service technicians show up as scheduled while our team works on other vehicles. They let us know when the repairs are complete; we look it over with them, sign off, and we’re done!”
“They let us know when the repairs are complete; we look it over with them, sign off, and we’re done!”Blaze Misev, Fleet and Equipment Supervisor
Efficient fleet management is critical to organizations and municipalities of all sizes — but especially so for those with limited staffing and resources. Now that Misev and his team use Ford Mobile Service for their recall and warranty repairs, they can’t imagine life without it.
Diane McGraw writes for the Ford Pro Communications team.
1Ford Mobile Service is offered by participating dealers and may be limited based on availability, distance, or other dealer-specified criteria. Does not include parts or repair charges.
