| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Logistics and Warehousing |
| Level | Mid level |
| Reports to | Fleet Manager |
| Direct reports | Vehicle Mechanic, Fleet Coordinator |
| Experience | 5 to 8 years in vehicle maintenance with some supervisory experience |
Fleet Maintenance Supervisor job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Fleet Maintenance Supervisor
Department: Logistics and Warehousing
Reports to: Fleet Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Fleet Maintenance Supervisor keeps vehicles roadworthy through planned upkeep and quick repair. They run the workshop or manage outside garages, schedule preventive maintenance, attend to breakdowns, and control spares and repair cost. They decide what gets fixed in-house and what goes out, and they hold mechanics to quality and turnaround. A good one cuts breakdowns through disciplined preventive maintenance, returns vehicles to duty fast, and keeps repair and spares cost down without cutting corners on safety-critical work.
Key responsibilities
- Schedule preventive maintenance for every vehicle by kilometres or hours and make sure services happen on time.
- Attend to breakdowns quickly, arrange on-road help, and get the vehicle back to duty with minimum downtime.
- Decide in-house versus outside repair and control the cost and quality of both.
- Manage the spares store: stock the fast-moving items, control issue, and avoid both stockouts and dead stock.
- Inspect vehicles for fitness before renewal and prepare them to pass the fitness test.
- Track repeat faults by vehicle and fix root causes rather than the symptom.
- Manage tyres, batteries and major assemblies on a life and cost basis.
- Keep job cards, service history and warranty claims recorded for every vehicle.
- Supervise mechanics on workmanship, safety and turnaround, and train them on new models.
- Report maintenance cost, downtime and breakdown trends to the Fleet Manager.
Requirements
- ITI or diploma in automobile or mechanical trade
- Hands-on experience with commercial vehicle maintenance
- A heavy vehicle or diesel mechanic certificate is an advantage
- 5 to 8 years in vehicle maintenance with some supervisory experience
KRAs and KPIs for a Fleet Maintenance Supervisor
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Preventive maintenance | Scheduled services completed on time above 95 percent |
| Vehicle downtime | Average repair turnaround and downtime within the agreed hours |
| Breakdown reduction | On-road breakdowns per vehicle reducing quarter on quarter |
| Repair cost | Repair and spares cost per vehicle within the monthly budget |
| Spares control | Spares availability high with dead stock below the agreed value |
| Fitness readiness | Every vehicle presented and passed for fitness on the first attempt |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Workshop tools and diagnostics, Fleet maintenance software, Spares inventory system, MS Excel, Vehicle diagnostic scanners.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Fleet Manager, Workshop Manager, Maintenance Manager
Interview questions for a Fleet Maintenance Supervisor
- How do you build a preventive maintenance schedule for a mixed fleet of trucks and vans?
- A vehicle breaks down two hundred kilometres away with a loaded trailer. What do you do?
- How do you decide whether a repair should be done in-house or sent to a garage?
- What is your approach to controlling spares cost without causing stockouts?
- A vehicle has the same fault returning every month. How do you fix it for good?
- How do you prepare an ageing vehicle to pass its fitness test the first time?
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What does a Fleet Maintenance Supervisor do?
A Fleet Maintenance Supervisor keeps vehicles roadworthy. They schedule preventive maintenance, handle breakdowns, run the workshop or manage garages, and control spares and repair cost. They decide in-house versus outside repair, fix repeat faults at the root, prepare vehicles for fitness tests, and supervise mechanics on quality, safety and turnaround.
What is the difference between a Fleet Maintenance Supervisor and a Fleet Manager?
A Fleet Maintenance Supervisor is responsible for keeping vehicles serviced and repaired. A Fleet Manager owns the wider fleet: utilization, fuel, drivers, compliance and cost per kilometre, with maintenance as one part. The supervisor keeps the vehicles healthy; the manager runs the whole fleet operation and its budget.
What qualifications does a Fleet Maintenance Supervisor need?
An ITI or diploma in an automobile or mechanical trade is the usual base, along with hands-on experience maintaining commercial vehicles. Employers look for strong diagnosis skills, spares and cost control, and the ability to supervise mechanics. A heavy vehicle or diesel mechanic certificate is an advantage for larger fleets.