4 Reasons to Prioritize Preventative Maintenance

You wouldn’t drive your car until the engine breaks before changing its oil, right? Well, Firefighting equipment should be no different. While the initial higher costs might feel intimidating, neglecting preventative maintenance leaves a department vulnerable while guaranteeing you’ll be paying more in the long run. Here are 4 benefits to preventative maintenance for firefighting equipment to keep in mind!

1.     Prolongs the life of your equipment.

One of the most important benefits of preventative maintenance for firefighting equipment is extending the lifespan. Regular maintenance checks allow your equipment to run significantly longer at a lower cost. You can easily extend the lifespan of most pieces by 3-5 years, reducing the cost associated with buying replacements more frequently.

2.     Eliminates unplanned downtime.

Instead of performing routine maintenance, some departments opt to wait unit failure before seeking help. This can result in critical equipment remaining out-of-service until a maintenance company can be scheduled, thus leaving a department vulnerable and unprepared. This down-time is extended if the piece of equipment requires a specialist to do repairs, as we often see with aerial ladders.

3.     Increases efficiency for the equipment and department.

Not only does preventative maintenance keep your firefighting equipment in service, it also ensures they’re running as efficiently a possible. This is especially true with SCBAs.

Also, when using a compliancy program which services all of your equipment at the same time of year, like AOS does, you don’t have to keep track of a maintenance schedule, or dozens of broken pieces of equipment needing repairs.

4.     Saves money in the long run.

All the reasons listed above all boil down to one main factor… they save money. Unplanned maintenance costs 3-9x higher than planned maintenance due to parts cost, specialized technicians, additional travel, etc. Even worse, reducing equipment’s lifespan due to lack of maintenance guarantees a department will be hemorrhaging money on new equipment.

To begin planning your equipment compliance program, reach out to us today!

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