New Year Fleet Reset: A 90-minute Audit That Cuts Cost and Lifts Productivity in January

New year, clean slate. Before the site hits full speed, take ninety minutes to reset your hired fleet. This is a practical, no-jargon audit you can run with your supervisors to shake out waste, fix nagging issues and point the team at the right targets for the month ahead.

Part 1: the numbers that matter (20 minutes)

Print or pull a simple one-pager for the past two weeks: productive hours, idle time, near-miss or proximity events, fuel by area, open defects. No dashboards, no deep dives - just a snapshot. Circle the three biggest opportunities: one machine to off-hire or rotate, one behaviour to improve, one defect to clear today.

Part 2: the walk (30 minutes)

Walk the compound and active areas together. For each machine:

• Is it in the right place for today's work? If not, move it now.
• Does it have the right attachment for this week's tasks? Stage them together.
• Tyres, forks, hoses, mirrors, cameras: any quick wins? Fix on the spot.
• In-cab: seatbelt working, safety prompts present, daily checks visible?
• Cabs and controls tidy? A clean cab is a good early-warning system.

Part 3: the quick fixes (20 minutes)

• Idle: agree the site standard - engine off after 60 seconds stopped unless safety demands otherwise.
• Fuel: confirm tank/bowser levels, refuelling windows and who owns them.
• Alerts: turn on only what you'll act on this week (for example, idle over 10 minutes, out-of-hours movement, low fuel). Kill the rest for now to avoid alert fatigue.
• Safety: pick one hotspot (a blind corner, a busy laydown) and commit to a visible change before lunch - cones, mirrors, a tweaked one-way system.

Part 4: operators and confidence (10 minutes)

Plan two short familiarisations for this week - new starters or anyone moving onto a different model. Share one page on winter warm-up routines and common self-help fixes (DPF regens, water-in-fuel, machine error codes). Confidence kills downtime.

Part 5: attachments and logistics (10 minutes)

Map the next two weeks. What attachments will you actually use and when? Stage them near the workface. Confirm delivery and collection windows with logistics so nothing sits in a corner waiting for the right fork carriage to appear.

Your Monday rhythm (repeat weekly)

• Five-minute stand-up: the three opportunities you circled, who owns them, and when you'll check back.
• Mid-week nudge: one message that supports the goal (for example, move a delivery to remove a queue).
• Friday note: what improved, what didn't, and one learning to carry into next week.

How this changes January

Small, visible wins build momentum. Idle drops without a campaign. Off-hire decisions get easier. First-time fixes go up because defects are caught early. Operators feel supported rather than policed. The site gets quieter, safer and more predictable, which is exactly how a new year should start.

The takeaway

You don't need a grand strategy to improve January. You need ninety minutes, a short list and the discipline to repeat the routine. Do that, and the numbers - and the day - move in the right direction fast.