An electric burden carrier has no oil, no filters, no belts, and no fuel system. That removes most of what a maintenance program traditionally covers, but it does not remove the program. Here is what is left, and how often to do it.
Daily, by the operator
Ninety seconds at the start of each shift, on a card:
- Brakes engage and hold on a slight grade
- Steering responds without excessive play
- Horn works
- Tires hold pressure and show no chunking or embedded debris
- Battery charge level and connector condition — no corrosion, no heat discoloration
- Deck fasteners tight, no visible frame damage
Anything failing goes to the shop, not back into service. The card gets filed.
Weekly
Clean the deck and chassis. In dusty environments, blow out the controller enclosure and motor vents — accumulated dust is the most common cause of thermal derating on electric drivetrains.
Check tire wear pattern. Uneven wear usually means alignment or a bearing, both cheaper to catch early.
Monthly
Inspect wiring harness routing for chafe points, especially near steering components where repeated motion works insulation against edges. Check brake pad or shoe thickness. Verify all fasteners on the deck and frame to torque.
Log battery runtime. A pack that used to give four and a half hours and now gives three is telling you something well before it fails outright.
Quarterly
Full battery health check — capacity test against rated, terminal cleaning, and connector inspection under load. Brake system inspection including cable or hydraulic condition. Motor mount and drivetrain fastener check.
Annually
Controller diagnostics, full electrical system inspection, bearing service, and a structural inspection of the frame including weld inspection at high-stress points.
Consumables to keep on the shelf
Tires, brake pads, the battery connector, and fuses. Those four cover the overwhelming majority of unplanned downtime on an electric burden carrier. Stocking them locally turns a multi-day outage into an hour.
What kills these vehicles
Not wear — neglect of specific things. Deep-discharging batteries repeatedly, running with a corroded connector until it heats and fails, and ignoring a wear pattern until it becomes a bearing failure. All three are caught by the checks above.
Want the printable version? Ask us and we will send the inspection card as a PDF.