Fleet Maintenance Operations Manager
The Halter GroupFleet Maintenance Operations Manager The Halter Group | Vincennes, Indiana | Full Time 45 bucket trucks. 70 crews. Ten states. Zero idle iron. The Halter Group is a third-generation, family-owned line clearance contractor. Our crews work next to energized lines every day, and they’re counting on equipment that won’t let them down. Right now every unit we own is working. We need someone to keep it that way. You’ll run the shop and the field mechanics who keep our aerial units, chippers, mowers, mulchers, stump grinders and trucks running. You report straight to the CEO. No layers, no runaround. Your scorecard is simple: equipment ready for crews, zero equipment-caused incidents, and cost per unit you can defend. What you’ll own The fleet. Run preventive maintenance on everything we field and hold PM compliance at 95% or better. Keep crew-ready availability at 90% or above. Knock out the spring and fall service cycles on time. Send mobile mechanics out to rights of way so crews aren’t sitting on a broken truck. Use oil sampling to catch hydraulic and engine problems before they turn into failures, and run down recurring hydraulic, PTO, boom and chipper problems to the root cause. Safety, with no shortcuts. Own dielectric testing for insulated aerial devices under ANSI A92.2 and OSHA 1910.269, with certified records for every unit. Keep chipper feed controls, e-stops and guarding working to ANSI Z133. Keep us FMCSA compliant in every state we run. If a unit isn’t safe, you pull it, and it doesn’t go back out until you’ve signed off on the repair. The crew. Hire, train and lead shop and mobile mechanics. Good mechanics are hard to find, so building and keeping a strong bench is a big part of this job. Push your people through OEM factory training (Altec, Terex, Versalift, Bandit, Vermeer, Morbark) and ASE certifications. Teach crew leaders how to do a real pre-use inspection. The money. Build and run the fleet budget by contract. Negotiate with dealers, parts suppliers, test providers and outside shops. Every vendor meets our standard before a wrench turns: written contract, insurance on file, Halter supervision in our shop. No exceptions. Write specs for new trucks and chippers, run the bids, and make repair-or-replace calls based on lifecycle cost. We buy for contracted work, not wishful thinking. Storm season. When the lines come down, we roll. You’ll keep the fleet storm-ready, stage equipment and mechanics for mutual aid, and back up crews in the field on multi-day and out-of-state deployments. The numbers. Run MTC Pro Web and Motive telematics. Report to leadership on availability, crew hours lost to breakdowns, PM and dielectric compliance, and cost per unit. Your first 90 days Take the handoff from the outgoing fleet manager, including open repairs, down units, parts on order and vendor relationships. Close out the fall service cycle across every territory. Check the specs on the current pickup and service truck replacement program. Then give us a straight report on where the fleet stands: condition, age, compliance and when each unit needs replacing. What you bring You need a high school diploma or GED, at least 5 years working on heavy or specialty equipment including aerial lifts and hydraulics, and at least 2 years running mechanics or a shop. You know ANSI A92.2 inspection and dielectric testing, and FMCSA maintenance and inspection rules. You’ve worked in a computerized fleet or maintenance system. You have a valid driver’s license with a clean record, and you’re ready to travel and deploy for storms on short notice. It’s a bonus if you’ve worked utility line clearance, tree care or electrical contractor fleets, or if you hold OEM factory training, aerial device inspector or dielectric test credentials, a Class A or B CDL, ASE Medium/Heavy Truck or CAFM certification, or a degree in diesel tech, fleet management or business. Knowing A…