Ryan Bethell built RDI Power by keeping fleets running from a service truck before there was ever a shop, and RDI Fleet is that same work organized into a program. For a Sanford operator, the program means a maintenance plan written around your units, preventive maintenance done at your yard by technicians who come from Brooksville, and the bigger jobs planned into our shop instead of discovered on the shoulder of SR 417. It covers light, medium and heavy duty trucks, trailers and buses, in any mix.
From Celery City to a beltway junction: Sanford freight today
Sanford earned the Celery City name after celery was first planted there in 1896, and it was a major rail and river hub long before the interstates arrived. The modern version runs on roads and runways. On January 26, 2024, the last Wekiva Parkway segment opened between Orange Boulevard and the I-4 and SR 417 junction in Sanford, completing the beltway around Central Florida. SR 417 near Sanford carries about 12,301 trucks a day, one vehicle in five, and SR 46 between I-4 and Rinehart Road adds about 3,832 more. Orlando Sanford International Airport covers about 3,000 acres, and its operator, the Sanford Airport Authority, employs more than 270 people full time.
For a fleet based here, trucks can leave the yard in any direction, north on I-4, around the beltway, east on SR 417. That is exactly why a single maintenance calendar for all of them matters.
Tractor and trailer PM on one Sanford calendar
Tractors and trailers wear differently, and a good plan treats them as separate units that often travel together. Tractors on beltway and interstate duty are usually tracked on mileage, with oil, filters, the fuel system, cooling, the air system and aftertreatment on the schedule. Trailers get their own intervals for brakes, wheel bearings, lights, wiring and tires. When a pair runs together, we time the trailer’s service to the tractor’s visit so both are done in one stop at your yard. Box trucks and straight trucks that run local deliveries around Sanford go on engine hours or mileage, whichever describes their day better.
Air systems on Sanford tractors that work SR 417 and SR 46
Air brakes are where small problems turn into roadside calls. A slow leak at a fitting, a chafed line or a brake chamber starting to fail can pass a quick walk-around and still leave a tractor unable to build or hold pressure a week later. At each RDI Fleet visit, the technician checks brake adjustment and lining condition, tests for air leaks, and inspects chambers, slack adjusters, gladhands and hoses on tractors and trailers. Findings go into the digital inspection with photos, so a worn component becomes a planned repair on a day you choose rather than a breakdown on the beltway.
Engines on Sanford tractors and trucks
RDI works on the heavy-duty engines that pull freight through Sanford, Cummins, Detroit, Caterpillar and Volvo among them, as well as older engines like the Caterpillar 3406 that many owners keep in service. The shop is Caterpillar certified, the technicians are ASE certified, and fuel system work is backed by RDI’s standing as a Bosch dealer and its work with Alliant Power fuel injection. When a tractor sets a code between visits, fleet accounts get priority, and the diagnosis is made with the right heavy-duty software rather than by swapping parts until the light goes out.
Planning Sanford PM around booked loads
A tractor parked for service is a load not hauled, so the schedule starts with your dispatch calendar, not ours. Tell us which days each unit is usually free, and yard visits are booked into those gaps. When a truck is due for several things at once, such as an oil service, a brake job and its annual inspection, they are combined into one visit. Trucks that need the Brooksville bays are scheduled the same way, with any open repairs and upcoming maintenance handled during the same trip, so a unit makes the run once instead of three times a year.
DOT annuals for Sanford units that run interstate
Above 10,001 pounds GVWR, a truck in interstate commerce needs an annual inspection, and the report has to be kept for 14 months; drivers still own their daily pre-trip checks. A Sanford tractor that crosses into Georgia on a weekly run falls squarely under those rules. On RDI Fleet, each unit’s annual is booked with its PM so it comes out of service once, and anything that fails is photographed, written up and repaired after you sign off. Read more about DOT inspections.
The RDI Fleet account behind Sanford trucks
A Sanford fleet account’s repairs are covered for 2 years or 24,000 miles, and the account moves to the front of the line when something breaks between visits. When a tractor stops on I-4 at 2:00 AM, 24/7 roadside assistance is part of the account. Engine and transmission jobs that need a bay are scheduled into our Brooksville shop with you, around the loads you already have booked.
See the RDI Fleet maintenance program, fleet maintenance in Lake Mary for the city to the south, or mobile diesel repair in Sanford for breakdowns. Call (352) 433-3800 to set up a walk-around of your Sanford yard.