Warm Weather Equipment Maintenance Tips

As the seasons change, it’s time to prepare your fleet for warm weather. Depending on the climate your unit operates in, seasonal adjustments may be needed to ensure your equipment functions efficiently. Use the equipment maintenance tips below from Altec’s Service Training Team to make sure your bucket trucks, digger derricks, cranes and other equipment is running safety for springtime.

Hydraulic Fluid

Hydraulic fluid viscosity thickens in cold weather and thins as it warms up. It’s important to ensure your hydraulic fluid levels are appropriate for summer conditions.
“Always make sure the proper oil is used. When in doubt, consult the manual or call tech support for guidance,” said Jeff Hodges, Altec service trainer.

The unit’s filtration system should be checked to ensure hydraulic fluid can flow freely. Filters should be changed at regular intervals.

“Per the Altec Maintenance Manual, the return line filter should be changed every 6 months,” Hodges said. “Always check the screen at the top of the reservoir for foreign objects.”

Cooling Systems

Summer heat can put a strain on your unit’s cooling system. In addition to checking filters, make sure cooling system components are clean and working properly.

“If it has an oil cooler you need to make sure the oil cooler itself is clean for proper airflow and cooling,” Hodges said.

Spring Cleaning

Keeping your equipment clean is crucial for optimal performance. Dirt and debris can accumulate over time leading to potential issues.

“Always check inside the boom for birds’ nests and critters,” Hodges said. “It’s important for dielectric integrity and safety to prevent thermal events during dielectric testing.”

Check Your Altec Maintenance Manual

Units should be maintained using the Altec Maintenance Manual to ensure testing and procedures are completed at recommended intervals. The Preventive Maintenance Checklist can be found in the back of every Altec Maintenance Manual.

Get Support from Altec’s Service Maintenance Training Team

Altec provides Service Maintenance Training to our customers to keep crews safe and reduce downtime. Our extensive training options are designed to help your mechanics gain equipment and preventive maintenance knowledge to maintain your fleet safely and effectively. You can choose between a variety of instructor-led, webinar and online training options. Contact our team here, or get more information on 2025 training below.

Extended Warranties and Prepaid Maintenance—Are They Worth It?

It’s a familiar happening—your phone rings with a call from an unknown number. You answer it, only to be greeted by a message about your car’s extended warranty, and frustratedly hang up the phone.

While extended warranties may have gotten a bad reputation as of late thanks to the endless stream of robocalls, the plans can actually be quite valuable, especially when paired with prepaid maintenance plans.

Altec offers both extended warranties and prepaid maintenance plans. When paired together, these plans help customers better budget for the future, avoid surprises and get the most out of their fleet’s equipment.

About Altec’s prepaid maintenance

Altec’s prepaid maintenance plans cover industry required preventive maintenance, dielectric testing and DOT certifications. Prepaid maintenance is available with the purchase or lease of new equipment. It can also be added at any point throughout the lifecycle of your existing asset. Learn more about prepaid maintenance here.

About Altec’s extended warranty

Even with the best maintenance programs, some unplanned downtime is inevitable. Available on both new and used equipment for up to eight years from the in-service date on most models, an extended warranty is owned and managed by Altec as an extension of Altec’s limited warranty.

Our extended warranty plan protects you from the repair costs associated with defects in materials and workmanship after the standard warranty expires. Learn more about Altec’s extended warranty here.

Prepaid maintenance and extended warranties work best together.

In utility, telecom, construction and other industries where companies operate fleets of specialized equipment, trucks undergo wear and tear on a daily basis. With such high use, breakdowns repairs are unfortunately inevitable.

An investment in a maintenance program encourages routine and proactive service work, meaning any equipment issues can be caught early and repairs can be scheduled accordingly, instead of reactive and expensive breakdown repairs. Adhering to a truck’s maintenance and inspection schedule is a key component of a successful safety program, and is often also required as part of regulatory compliance.

When repairs are needed, Altec’s extended warranty program will help cover costs, reducing the chance of surprise expenses added to your budget.

Altec is here to help.

A fleet manager’s to-do list is a long one and remembering to schedule maintenance doesn’t have to be another item on the list for those with the Altec prepaid maintenance plan. Because different equipment types might have different industry service requirements and maintenance schedules, keeping up with the unique needs of the fleet can be time consuming.

For customers utilizing Altec’s maintenance compliance program, Altec’s team of service professionals will help manage the scheduling for your planned maintenance activities.

The bottom line: Are prepaid maintenance plans and extended warranties worth the cost?

Whether your fleet is large or small, keeping vehicles properly maintained is a time-consuming venture that can turn costly quickly. Repairs on equipment can vary wildly in cost, with the cost of critical component repairs routinely ranging upwards of thousands of dollars. Altec’s prepaid maintenance program will help avoid surprise breakdowns, and with the extended warranty plan, you’ll be covered by the original equipment manufacturer and won’t be faced with a costly repair that wasn’t in the budget.

Why Fleet Maintenance is a Necessary Part of Your Safety Program

Whether you know it or not, fleet maintenance has a big effect on your safety program. Complex equipment such as aerial devices, cranes and digger derricks are built to work hard in tough environments, designed to exacting national standards and intended to reward owners with a long service life. They are also a large investment that needs to be protected by following the manufacturer’s guidance for safe operation and maintenance.

It’s likely your safety team is hard at work enforcing safe work rules, implementing programs, compiling safety metrics and tracking OSHA reports. Meanwhile, a poorly maintained piece of equipment may be creeping closer to failure, threatening to undo all those efforts keeping workers safe on the job.

Make Maintenance Programs a Priority

Fortunately, Altec’s unit maintenance manuals give you extensive guidance on preventive maintenance schedules and detailed instructions on performing the important tasks that keep your equipment safely in service.

Your fleet needs the right kind of maintenance program, with inspection intervals timed for the severity of operating conditions. Heavily used units need more frequent inspection and maintenance. Think of the difference between a New York City taxicab and Grandma’s Crown Vic. Which one will need more preventive maintenance or repair?  Of course, sitting idle in the garage can also pose problems, but a well-designed fleet maintenance program will consider that too.

Take Your Training Seriously

Fleet programs are part of the equation, but there are human factors, too: the people using the equipment and the people maintaining it. Both groups could introduce risk or mitigation effects into overall operational safety. In large part, this depends on your effectiveness in two key training areas—training your operators and training your technicians.

Train Your Operators Properly

Trained operators break less equipment because they use it correctly. Too often, employers condone work methods that misuse and abuse equipment. This essentially trains operators to damage equipment, and it puts everyone at the job site at serious risk of injury.

Train Your Technicians Properly

Letting untrained technicians inspect and maintain complex equipment gives a dangerous false sense of security. If you don’t have trained mechanics who follow Altec’s maintenance procedures, call Altec Service. We have the resources to help keep your units safely in the field, protecting your workers and getting the job done.

Altec is Here to Help

Building a connection between your fleet maintenance and safety teams is a solid move toward protecting your workers. Start by asking the question, “How are we training our technicians and operators?”

If you need help, contact Altec Service to discuss maintenance training options. For operator training, contact Altec Sentry. Let our experts help you fix and operate your Altec units properly, putting your safety program on a better path toward prevention.

Need Help? Please contact us at 1-877-GO ALTEC, option 1.

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Altec Inc.

210 Inverness Center Drive
Birmingham, AL 35242-4834
Phone (205) 991-7733
Fax (205) 408-8601

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