User Guide

Maintenance Schedules

A maintenance schedule is a rule — every 15,000 miles, every 90 days — applied to as many units as you like. RoadBays tracks each unit against it and surfaces what is coming due, so planned service happens on your terms instead of on the shoulder of a highway.

About This Guide

This guide covers Maintenance Schedules in RoadBays — building the schedules, assigning units to them, watching what comes due, and turning a due item into actual work. It is written for the people who plan and run preventive maintenance: fleet managers, maintenance coordinators, and shop managers.

You do not need to read it end to end. Use the table of contents to jump to the screen you are on.

How to read the instructions

Term	Meaning
Bold text	The exact name of a button, tab, field, or menu item as it appears on screen. Example: click Assign Selected.
Numbered steps	Do these in order. Each step is one action.
Note	Background information that helps the step make sense.
Tip	A faster or better way to do something.
Important	Something that will cause a problem if you skip it.

How preventive maintenance works in RoadBays

Four things have to happen, in this order. Skip any one and the system goes quiet.

Step	What it means
1. Build the schedule	Create the rule once — "Full Service, every 15,000 miles". The schedule on its own does nothing; it is a template.
2. Assign units	Attach the schedule to the units it applies to. This is the step people forget. A schedule with no units assigned will never tell you anything.
3. Watch what comes due	RoadBays tracks each unit against the interval and lists what is approaching or past due on the Maintenance Schedules Due screen.
4. Act and record	Turn a due item into a case or a work order, do the service, and record the completion so the clock resets.

ImportantA schedule that exists but has no units assigned is invisible. If you built a schedule last month and have never seen it appear on the Due screen, check the assignment step first — it is almost always the answer.

Date-based and mileage-based schedules

An interval is a number plus a unit — 90 plus Days, or 15,000 plus Miles. RoadBays works out the next due point for each unit from whichever applies, and the Due screen shows both a next due date and a next due mileage so you can see which one is driving it.

NoteMileage-based schedules only work if RoadBays knows the unit's current mileage. That comes from your telematics integration, from the Mileage tab on a case, or from the closing odometer recorded when a repair is finished. Without it, a mileage schedule cannot tell you anything.

The Maintenance Schedules List

The Maintenance Schedules screen lists every schedule you have built. It is a short list for most fleets — a handful of rules covering everything you run.

Reading the list

Column	What it shows
Date	When the schedule was created.
Name	What the schedule is called.
Description	What the service covers.
Interval	The interval unit — miles, days, hours — as configured on the schedule.
Delete	Removes the schedule.

Every cell except Delete is a link. Click anywhere on a row to open that schedule.

Creating a schedule

Click New Schedule to build one. The next chapter walks through the fields.

Deleting a schedule

Click Delete on the row.
Confirm when prompted.

NoteIf a schedule cannot be deleted, RoadBays explains why on screen. That usually means units are still assigned to it — unassign them first, or leave the schedule in place.

TipResist the urge to build a separate schedule per unit. One "PM A — 15,000 miles" schedule with sixty tractors assigned is far easier to maintain than sixty schedules, and changing the interval once updates all of them.

Building a Schedule

A schedule is four fields. Getting the interval right is the part worth thinking about.

The fields

Field	What to enter
Name	What your team calls this service. "PM A", "Annual DOT", "Tire Rotation". This is what shows on the Due screen and in the Maintenance Schedules picker on cases and work orders, so make it recognizable at a glance.
Interval Value	The number. 15000 for a 15,000 mile service, 90 for a 90 day one.
Maintenance Interval	The unit that number is counted in — miles, days, hours, or whatever your account is configured with.
Description	What the service actually covers. Write it for the technician who will do the work: what gets checked, what gets replaced, what gets recorded.

Click Save when you are done.

Choosing an interval

Use miles for anything driven by wear — oil, filters, brakes, tires.
Use days for anything driven by time or regulation — annual inspections, certifications, fire extinguisher checks.
Where the manufacturer gives both, build the schedule on the one that comes up first for how you actually run. A truck doing 12,000 miles a month will hit a mileage interval long before a time one; a yard truck is the reverse.

TipSet the interval slightly tighter than the manufacturer minimum. If the book says 15,000 miles, schedule at 14,000. That gives you a window to get the unit in without going past the interval and voiding a warranty claim.

Permission to edit

Creating and changing schedules is a controlled action. If your account does not have permission to manage schedules, the Save button appears greyed out with an explanation, and the recalculate option is hidden. You can still open a schedule and read it.

NoteThis is deliberate. Changing an interval affects every unit assigned to the schedule at once, so it is kept to the people who own maintenance policy. Speak to your RoadBays administrator if you need the permission.

Assigning Units

Below the schedule, two tables sit side by side: units not yet on this schedule on the left, units already on it on the right. Moving units between them is how a schedule starts doing its job.

The two tables

Table	What it holds
Units Unassigned to Maintenance Schedule	Every unit that is not on this schedule. Move units right to add them.
Units Assigned to Maintenance Schedule	Every unit currently on this schedule. Move units left to take them off.

Both tables show the Unit Number and the Serial #, and both have their own search box and paging.

Assigning one unit

Find the unit in the left-hand table, using the search box if the list is long.
Click Assign on its row.

The unit moves to the right-hand table immediately. Both tables refresh.

Assigning many units at once

This is the faster path when you are setting a schedule up for the first time.

Tick the checkbox on each unit you want, or use the search box to narrow the list first.
The Assign Selected button shows a running count of what you have picked.
Click Assign Selected.
Confirm when prompted.

NoteYour selection survives searching and paging. Tick three units, search for something else, tick two more, and all five are still selected — the count in the button tells you how many you are holding.

The select-all checkbox

The checkbox in the table heading selects every row matching your current search, not just the rows on the page you are looking at. This is what makes bulk assignment quick.

Search to narrow the list — a unit number prefix, a serial number fragment.
Tick the heading checkbox.
Every matching unit is selected, across all pages.
Click Assign Selected.

ImportantBecause select-all covers every match and not just the visible page, check the count on the button before you confirm. If you meant to assign eight tractors and the button says 340, your search was too broad.

Unassigning units

The right-hand table works the same way in reverse — Unassign on a row for one unit, or tick several and use Unassign Selected.

TipUnassign a unit when it is sold, retired, or moves to a different service regime. Leaving a sold truck assigned means it keeps appearing on your Due screen forever, and a Due screen full of noise is one people stop reading.

Recalculating Next Due

When you change a schedule's interval, units already assigned keep the next due point they were given under the old interval. Recalculating pushes the new interval out to all of them at once.

Running a recalculation

Open the schedule.
Click Recalculate Next Due for All Assigned Units.
Read the confirmation and click OK.

Every unit assigned to the schedule has its next due date and next due mileage recalculated from the current interval, immediately.

ImportantThis applies to every assigned unit at once and cannot be undone selectively. Tightening an interval can move a group of units straight into Overdue. That is usually correct — they genuinely are overdue under the new rule — but do it when you have time to deal with the result, not at four o'clock on a Friday.

NoteThe recalculate button only appears for accounts with permission to manage schedules.

When to recalculate

After changing the Interval Value or the Maintenance Interval on an existing schedule.
After a manufacturer revises its service recommendation.
After a data import where next due points may not have been set correctly.

You do not need to recalculate after assigning new units — those are given a next due point when they are assigned.

Maintenance Schedules Due

This is the screen that earns the whole feature. It lists every unit with maintenance approaching or past due, soonest first, and lets you turn any row into actual work without leaving the page.

Reading the list

Column	What it shows
Unit	The unit that needs the service.
Maintenance Type	Which schedule is due.
Next Due Date	When it comes due. Shows a dash for schedules driven purely by mileage.
Next Due Mileage	The odometer reading it comes due at. Shows N/A for schedules driven purely by time.
Current Mileage	Where the unit is now. Compare it against Next Due Mileage to see how much room you have.
Status	Overdue or Due Soon.
Actions	Create a case or a work order straight from the row.

The list is sorted by Next Due Date, soonest first, and shows 50 rows per page. Use the search box to narrow to one unit or one type of service.

The two statuses

Status	What it means
Overdue (red)	The unit has passed its due date or due mileage. Every day it stays here is warranty and reliability risk.
Due Soon (amber)	The unit is approaching its due point. This is the useful column — work scheduled from here is planned work.

TipWork the Due Soon rows, not the Overdue ones. Anything sitting in Overdue is already a problem; the whole point of preventive maintenance is to catch units while they are still amber. If your list is mostly red, your intervals are too tight or nobody is working the screen.

Building it into a routine

Open Maintenance Schedules Due at the same time each week.
Work the Overdue rows first — those units should not be running.
Then work down the Due Soon rows and schedule them against the unit's route.
Create the case or work order from the row as you go, so nothing is left in your head.

Turning a Due Item Into Work

Every row on the Due screen has two buttons. Which you pick depends on whether the work needs coordinating or just doing.

Create a case

Click Case to open a case for that unit, already carrying the maintenance type as its description and linked back to the schedule.

The case opens in a new tab. From there you can assign a user, set a repair facility, set an estimated arrival, add notes, and follow the job the way you follow any other repair.

Use this when the service needs coordinating — an outside vendor, a date to agree with a driver, an approval to chase.

Create a work order

Click Work Order to open a Billing Workbench for that unit, with the maintenance type carried through as the description.

The workbench opens in a new tab, ready for you to add sections and lines. Use this when your own shop is doing the work and there is nothing to coordinate — you are going straight to the job.

Which to use

Situation	Use
An outside vendor is doing the service	Case. You need the vendor search, the communication trail, and the notifications.
Your own shop, scheduled in advance	Case, so you can set the dates and follow it — then create the workbench from the case when the unit arrives.
Your own shop, unit is here now	Work Order. Skip the coordination and start billing the job.
You want the repair history tied to a case	Case. Everything hangs off it — inspections, files, fault codes, notes.

TipWhen in doubt, create the case. You can always create a workbench from the case later, and the case gives you somewhere to put the notes, photos, and inspection that the job generates.

Recording a Completed Service

This is the step that closes the loop. Until RoadBays is told the service was done, the unit stays on the Due screen and the clock never resets.

On a case

Open the case for the service.
On the Case tab, find Maintenance Schedules and tick every schedule this visit covers.
Enter the Closing Odometer.
Click Save Header.
Set the case status to Complete.

On a work order

Open the workbench and go to the Work Order tab.
In Repair Information, find Maintenance Schedules and tick every schedule this work order completes.
Click Save Repair Info.

Why the odometer matters

For a mileage-based schedule, the next due point is calculated from where the unit was when the service was done. If nobody records the closing odometer, RoadBays is working from an old reading and the next service comes due at the wrong time.

TipMake recording the odometer part of closing any job, not just PM work. It costs ten seconds and it keeps every mileage-based schedule on that unit honest.

ImportantTicking the Maintenance Schedules box is what resets the clock. A service that was done but not ticked leaves the unit sitting on the Due screen — and the most common response to that is for somebody to service it again.

Common Workflows

Setting up preventive maintenance from scratch

List the services you actually perform and the interval for each.
For each one, go to Maintenance Schedules and click New Schedule.
Enter the name, interval value, interval unit, and a description a technician can work from.
Save.
In the unassigned table below, search for the units this schedule applies to.
Use the heading checkbox to select all matches, check the count, and click Assign Selected.
Repeat for each schedule.
Open Maintenance Schedules Due and confirm units are appearing.

TipStart with three or four schedules covering the services that matter most. A small set that people actually work beats a comprehensive set that nobody looks at.

The weekly PM run

Open Maintenance Schedules Due.
Work every Overdue row: create a case, set a follow-up date, get the unit booked in.
Work the Due Soon rows against the units' routes — catch the truck when it is already near a shop.
Create the case or work order from each row as you go.
When the work is done, tick the schedule on the case or work order and record the closing odometer.

Adding a new truck to the fleet

Create the unit under Master Lists first.
Open each maintenance schedule that applies to it.
Find the unit in the unassigned table and click Assign.
Record the unit's current mileage so mileage-based schedules have a starting point.

ImportantDo this the week the truck arrives. A unit that is never assigned to a schedule will never appear on the Due screen, and nobody notices the gap until something fails.

Changing an interval across the fleet

Open the schedule.
Change the Interval Value, the Maintenance Interval, or both.
Click Save.
Click Recalculate Next Due for All Assigned Units and confirm.
Open Maintenance Schedules Due and see what moved. A tighter interval will push some units into Overdue.
Work through anything newly overdue.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What to do
A schedule never appears on the Due screen	It has no units assigned. Open the schedule and assign units in the table below it.
A unit never appears, but others on the same schedule do	That unit is not assigned. Open the schedule and check the assigned table; search for the unit number.
Next Due Mileage shows N/A	The schedule is time-based, so there is no mileage due point. That is expected.
Next Due Date shows a dash	The schedule is mileage-based, so there is no date due point. That is expected.
Current Mileage shows 0	RoadBays has no mileage for that unit. Record one on the Mileage tab of a case, connect a telematics integration, or enter a closing odometer when a repair is finished.
A unit I just serviced is still showing as due	The service was not recorded against the schedule. Open the case or work order and tick the schedule under Maintenance Schedules, then save.
The Save button on a schedule is greyed out	Your account does not have permission to manage schedules. Ask your RoadBays administrator.
I cannot see the recalculate button	Same cause — it only shows for accounts with permission to manage schedules.
I changed the interval but nothing moved	Existing units keep their old next due point until you recalculate. Click Recalculate Next Due for All Assigned Units.
A schedule will not delete	RoadBays shows the reason on screen. Usually units are still assigned — unassign them first.
I selected units and the count looks far too high	The heading checkbox selects every unit matching your current search, across all pages, not just the visible page. Narrow the search and try again.
A sold truck keeps appearing on the Due screen	It is still assigned. Open each schedule it is on and unassign it.
The Due list is almost entirely red	Either nobody is working the screen, or your intervals are tighter than your operation can sustain. Fix the backlog first, then revisit the intervals.

Glossary

Term	Meaning
Maintenance schedule	A reusable rule describing a service and how often it is performed.
Preventive maintenance (PM)	Service performed on a schedule to prevent failures, rather than in response to one.
Interval	How often the service comes round — an interval value plus a unit, such as 15,000 miles or 90 days.
Interval value	The number part of an interval.
Maintenance interval	The unit part of an interval — miles, days, hours.
Assigned unit	A unit attached to a schedule and therefore tracked against it.
Next due date	The date a unit's next service falls due under a time-based schedule.
Next due mileage	The odometer reading a unit's next service falls due at under a mileage-based schedule.
Due Soon	The service is approaching. Work scheduled from here is planned work.
Overdue	The unit has passed its due date or mileage.
Recalculate	Reapplying the current interval to every assigned unit's next due point at once.
Closing odometer	The odometer reading when a repair is finished. Mileage-based schedules count forward from it.

Need More Help?

If something in Maintenance Schedules is not working the way this page describes, email support@roadbays.com or submit a question from the Help page.