THIS paper centers attention on operating cost control, which is stated to be the most difficult of all the service problems to solve. Until the scientific as well as the mechanical phase of maintenance is recognized, until repairs are made from facts rather than guesswork, and until the question: Why this failure? takes precedence over “repairing,” the author states that this serious service problem cannot be solved.
The danger of confusing cost records with maintenance factual information is emphasized. Only a maintenance history, a chronological array of facts embracing repairs, repeat work, road failures and the like, can answer the question: What caused this cost?
Preventive maintenance has as its fundamentals regularity, uniformity and thoroughness, and can be applied to any single vehicle or fleet regardless of whether self-maintenance or service-station maintenance is practised.
Numerous illustrations of maintenance troubles and forms for record purposes are given and commented upon. In conclusion, the author advocates the promulgation by the industry of a preventive-maintenance system.