CMMS for Transport Companies: What You Actually Need (And What You Don't)

Most CMMS software isn't built for transport.

It's built for factories. Manufacturing plants with production lines, conveyor belts, and machines bolted to the floor.

Then someone in sales realises they can also target "fleet" — so they add a vehicle module, change some labels from "equipment" to "vehicles," and call it fleet management.

The result? Software that forces you to adapt to its structure instead of the way you actually work.

I spent 10 years at Thales and Hitachi Rail. I've seen maintenance teams struggle with software that was clearly designed by people who've never managed a fleet. Here's what actually matters — and what you can safely ignore.

What Makes Transport Different

Transport maintenance isn't like factory maintenance. The challenges are fundamentally different:

Your assets move. A manufacturing CMMS assumes assets stay in one place. Your vehicles could be in three different cities by lunchtime.

Compliance is time-critical. Miss an MOT date and the vehicle is off the road. Immediately. No grace period.

Drivers are your first line of defence. Technicians in a factory are on-site. Your drivers are scattered across routes, and they're the ones who notice problems first.

Downtime isn't scheduled. You can't take a delivery truck offline for planned maintenance when there's a load waiting to go.

A CMMS that doesn't account for these realities will fight you instead of helping you.

Features That Actually Matter

Based on what I've seen work (and fail) across dozens of transport operations:

1. Vehicle-Centric Everything

This sounds obvious, but many systems get it wrong.

You need to see, at a glance:

All upcoming work for a specific vehicle
Full maintenance history by vehicle
Compliance status (MOT, inspections, certifications)
Current and outstanding defects

If the system makes you hunt through menus to get this view, it's not built for fleet.

2. Compliance Tracking with Teeth

Not just a date field. Actual tracking with:

Automated alerts at multiple intervals (30, 14, 7 days)
Escalation when deadlines approach unaddressed
Dashboard showing compliance status across the fleet
Audit trail proving you did the work

For O-licence holders, this isn't optional. Traffic Commissioners expect evidence.

3. Mobile-First for Drivers

Your drivers need to:

Report defects from anywhere, in 30 seconds
See their vehicle's status
Confirm pre-trip checks (if required)

If the mobile experience is an afterthought — or requires a 20-minute training session — drivers won't use it.

4. Work Order Management That Flows

From defect report to completed repair:

Defect reported → work order created automatically
Work order assigned to technician or garage
Parts and labour logged
Work completed and signed off
History attached to vehicle record

No manual transcription. No paper forms that get lost. No gaps in the audit trail.

5. Parts and Inventory (Basic)

You don't need enterprise inventory management. You need:

Know what parts you have
Know what parts you used on what job
Know when to reorder

Bonus: link common parts to vehicle types so you know what to stock.

Features You Probably Don't Need

Enterprise CMMS vendors love to sell features. Here's what sounds impressive in a demo but rarely delivers value for transport operations:

Predictive Maintenance / AI

The pitch: "Our AI predicts failures before they happen using machine learning algorithms."

The reality: Predictive maintenance requires massive amounts of sensor data, historical failure patterns, and usually works best in controlled environments. Most transport fleets don't have the data infrastructure to make this work.

What to do instead: Preventive maintenance based on manufacturer schedules and mileage. It's not as sexy, but it works.

Advanced Analytics and Dashboards

The pitch: "Real-time KPIs, drill-down analytics, customisable dashboards."

The reality: Most fleet operators need three numbers: vehicles due for service, compliance items expiring, and open work orders. A page of charts nobody looks at isn't valuable.

What to do instead: Simple, focused views that answer the questions you actually ask.

Telematics Integration

The pitch: "Connect your telematics and get real-time vehicle health data."

The reality: Useful if you already have telematics and actually use the data. For most operators, it's an integration project that creates more work than it saves.

What to do instead: Get the basics working first. Add telematics integration later if you genuinely need it.

Multi-Site / Enterprise Features

The pitch: "Manage unlimited locations with hierarchical permissions and cross-site reporting."

The reality: If you have 3 depots, you don't need enterprise architecture. You need three location labels.

What to do instead: Make sure the system handles your actual structure. Don't pay for complexity you won't use.

The Spreadsheet Comparison

Before looking at CMMS software, be honest about what you're comparing against.

Spreadsheets are:

Free
Familiar
Flexible
Good enough for small fleets

Spreadsheets fail when:

Multiple people need to update simultaneously
You need automated reminders
You need a reliable audit trail
The person who built the spreadsheet leaves
You've had compliance near-misses

If your spreadsheet is working, keep using it. Don't buy software to solve a problem you don't have.

If your spreadsheet is causing problems, those problems will only grow as you scale.

Evaluating CMMS Options

If you're actively looking, here's a practical evaluation approach:

1. Start With Your Pain

List your actual problems:

"We've missed MOTs twice in the last year"
"Driver defect reports get lost"
"I can't find service history when I need it"
"Nobody updates the spreadsheet"

Any software you consider should clearly solve these specific problems.

2. Request a Vehicle-Focused Demo

Don't let them show you the factory workflow. Ask to see:

Adding a vehicle with MOT and service dates
Creating a work order from a driver defect report
Viewing compliance status across the fleet
Pulling maintenance history for a specific vehicle

If they struggle with these basics, the software isn't built for you.

3. Test With Real Scenarios

Before committing:

Can your drivers actually use the mobile app?
How long does it take to log a completed service?
What happens when an MOT date is missed — does the system alert you?
Can you export data if you need to leave?

4. Check the Pricing Model

Watch out for:

Per-user pricing that explodes when you add drivers
Feature tiers that hide basic compliance features
Implementation fees that exceed the software cost
Long-term contracts with no exit

What "Right-Sized" Looks Like

For most transport operators (10-100 vehicles), the right CMMS is:

Simple: A week to set up, not a six-month implementation project

Affordable: Hundreds per month, not thousands

Focused: Built for fleet/transport, not adapted from manufacturing

Usable: Your least technical team member can figure it out

Reliable: Reminders fire, data stays accurate, the system just works

That's the bar. Not sophisticated. Just reliably useful.

Our Approach

We built AssetOS because we couldn't find this for transport operators.

No enterprise bloat. No six-figure implementation. Just work orders, compliance tracking, and maintenance history that works the way fleet operators actually work.

We're in beta and actively working with transport companies to get it right.

Check it out — if it's not a fit, I'll tell you.