Hillsborough is a serious farm county, with $832 million in agricultural sales countywide in 2011, and Keystone is the part of it where the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan protects citrus groves, farms, ranches and equestrian facilities by name. The area also borders both Pasco and Pinellas counties, so an operation based here may run trucks into three counties in a week. RDI Fleet, RDI Power’s fleet program, builds a maintenance plan around that kind of operation and brings the work to your property, with technicians coming out from Brooksville on days set around your calendar.
A Keystone farm fleet is not a delivery fleet
Most fleet maintenance advice assumes trucks that run every day and rack up miles. Farm and ranch equipment works differently. A truck might haul feed every morning for a month, then sit through a slow season. A gooseneck or stock trailer might move twice a year. Equipment haulers and dump trucks might idle more hours than they drive.
So a Keystone plan starts with how each unit is actually used:
- Hours and calendar, not just miles. Oil, coolant and fuel filters on a truck that idles or sits are scheduled by engine hours and by date. Fuel that sits in a tank collects water, and batteries lose charge, whether or not the truck is moving.
- Pre-season visits. Before a busy stretch, the trucks you need most get a full inspection, so worn belts, weak batteries and leaking hoses are fixed in the yard instead of discovered on a two-lane road with a load behind them.
- Trailers on their own intervals. Wheel bearings, brakes, lights, wiring and tires get checked on a schedule of their own; see our trailer repair page for the work involved.
- Equipment-heavy duty. Dump bodies and vocational trucks that run a power takeoff log PTO time toward their service intervals.
Keystone towing rigs, hitch to bumper
On a farm or ranch, the truck is only half the rig. A loaded gooseneck or stock trailer puts its weight on the hitch, the truck’s rear suspension and both sets of brakes, and a failure anywhere in that chain is dangerous on a two-lane road. So a Keystone plan inspects the towing setup as one system:
- Hitch and coupler. Ball, receiver or gooseneck hardware checked for wear, cracks and loose mounting bolts.
- Safety chains and breakaway. Chains, hooks and the breakaway switch, including the battery that powers it.
- Wiring. The 7-way plug on both ends, cleaned and tested, since corrosion there causes dead trailer lights and brakes.
- Trailer brakes. Brake function and adjustment, plus the truck’s brake controller output.
- Truck rear end. Springs, shocks and tires on the towing vehicle, which carry more than their share when a trailer is loaded.
Findings go into the same photo report as the rest of the truck, so the weak link gets fixed in the barnyard rather than discovered on Gunn Highway.
Service where Keystone trucks park
Mobile technicians bring diagnostic tools and service equipment to your barn, shop building or equipment yard. Routine PM, inspections and many repairs happen there, without anyone driving a truck down Gunn Highway, the county truck route the plan says cannot be widened further, or onto the toll road to reach a shop. A firm, level place to work and access through your gate are all a visit needs.
Each visit produces a digital vehicle inspection with photos and the technician’s notes. Over a season, those reports become a record for every unit on the property: what was replaced, what is wearing and what will be due next. That record is useful when deciding whether an older farm truck is worth another repair.
Keystone repairs that need the shop
Most farm-fleet work fits in a yard visit. Internal engine work, transmission rebuilds and anything that needs a lift or a clean bench goes to our Brooksville shop. When that happens, we plan around the operation: if a truck is needed for a harvest or a haul, we schedule the repair for the quiet window, and we work out with you how it gets there.
Keystone fleet warranty, priority and roadside
Fleet accounts move to the front of the line when something breaks, and repairs under an RDI Fleet plan are backed for 2 years or 24,000 miles. Accounts also get roadside assistance at any hour, which matters when a rig quits on a dark rural road after a long day. Annual inspections for units that need them go on the same calendar as their PM; our DOT inspections page outlines the federal requirements.
The RDI Fleet maintenance page covers the program in full, and our Keystone mobile diesel repair page handles the unplanned side: breakdowns on the property or the road. If part of your operation sits just south in the planned suburbs, our Westchase fleet maintenance page shows how those yards are handled. To start a plan, call (352) 433-3800 and walk us through what you run and when it works hardest.