Maintenance work orders are sometimes used by fleet managers to track repair and maintenance costs more completely than simple oil change scheduling.

Tracking service is easiest if only one method (service performed or work orders) is always used because sometimes completed Preventive Maintenance work orders do not show up on the P.M. Service Performed Register along with individual service performed entries, and then the users must delete one or the other.

If using work orders, follow these basic guidelines:

• Set up a general work order for each piece of equipment as a catch-all for smaller things such as routine oil changes
• Use a separate work order for each larger event.

The benefit of this plan is that the data entry personnel doesn't have to decide from entry to entry whether to put certain task codes on a work order or not; they would expect to record certain codes on a work order and others in the Batch P.M. Service Entry.