How to build a truck maintenance schedule
A truck maintenance schedule lists the services each truck gets and when each one comes due. Writing the list takes an afternoon. Keeping every truck's next due date current is the real work, and it's where a schedule on paper falls behind.
Start from the manuals
Engine, transmission, axle and trailer makers publish service intervals for their parts, and those are the starting point. Your own duty cycle moves them: a truck that idles all day or hauls heavy may need a shorter interval than one running highway miles. Oil analysis can tell you whether an oil interval can stretch or should come in.
Measure each service three ways
Most wear follows distance, some follows engine hours, and some follows time. A truck that idles a lot adds engine hours without miles. One that sits parked still ages its fluids and its paperwork. Setting each service by miles, engine hours and months, whichever comes first, catches all three.
PM levels
Shops often group services into levels. A PM-A is the frequent, lighter service: oil and filters, grease and a walk-around. A PM-B adds more filters and a closer look underneath. A PM-C is the bigger service at the long interval. The names vary from shop to shop. What matters is that each truck's next one has a date.
| Service | Measure by | Where the interval comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Oil and filters (PM-A) | Miles or engine hours, and months | Engine maker's manual, oil analysis |
| Chassis grease | Miles or months | Axle and chassis makers |
| Fuel and air filters | Miles or engine hours | Engine and filter makers |
| Brakes: inspect and adjust | Every PM | Brake maker, your own repair history |
| Tires: tread and pressure | Every PM | Tire maker |
| DOT annual inspection | 12 months | 49 CFR 396.17 |
| Registration | Plate expiration date | Your state |
Warn before it's due
Give each service a warning window so it shows up before the deadline. A week, a thousand miles or 50 engine hours ahead gives the shop time to order parts and fit the truck in.
The records the DOT expects
Under 49 CFR 396.3, for each vehicle you control for 30 days in a row, you keep its identification, a way to show the nature and due date of each inspection and maintenance job, and a record of what was done and when. Keep them where the vehicle is housed or maintained for a year, and for six months after the vehicle leaves your control. A schedule with a history behind it is that record.
Magnus Fleet keeps the schedule current
Give each service its months, miles or engine hours. Magnus Fleet works out every truck's next due date from the last time the service was logged, marks it Due Soon inside your warning window and Overdue after, and puts every late truck on one dashboard, yard by yard.
Book a DemoDOT record rules: 49 CFR 396.3 and 396.17, read November 14, 2026. Service intervals come from your equipment makers; this guide doesn't replace their manuals.