Recommended Practices

RP Overview
How TMC RPs Guide Maintenance Practices

The development of Recommended Practices is the primary reason for the existence of TMC Study Groups and Task Forces. It is through the development of Recommended Practices that TMC provides technology solutions for the trucking industry.

The first Recommended Maintenance Practices Manual was unveiled in December 1973, and the first practice—RP 101, “Heavy Duty Alternator Mounting”—remains in the manual today, although it is now joined by more than 400 other recommended practices.

Your TMC membership provides you with access to our two-volume Recommended Practices (RP) Manual, which includes both the Recommended Maintenance Manual and Recommended Engineering Practices Manual, which helps members address the critical technology and maintenance issues that have the greatest impact on truck fleets. The Recommended Practices Manual is an unequaled reference for maintenance personnel, technicians, engineers and suppliers.

TMC’s Recommended Maintenance Practices are voluntary practices that assist equipment users, vehicle/component manufacturers and other industry suppliers in the maintenance of commercial vehicles.

TMC’s Recommended Engineering Practices are voluntary practices that assist equipment users, vehicle/component manufacturers and other industry suppliers in the design, specification, construction and performance of commercial vehicle equipment.

TMC Recommended Practices Library Links

CURRENT EDITION

2024-2025 Recommended Practices Manual (Complete Integrated Set) **WEB-BASED BROWSER ACCESS**

RP Download Library Link Including Driveline (RP 657) and Fuel Economy (RP 1118) Calculators

Click HERE for a SAMPLE RP: RP 169, Road Service Diagnostic Evaluation Process

RP Descriptions (PDF)

Click here to see a description of each Recommended Practice that appear in the current edition of TMC’s Recommended Practices Manual.

ARCHIVED (PREVIOUS EDITIONS)

TMC RP Video
See how your peers are using TMC RP’s to guide their maintenance practices.

Q&A with Bob Allen, senior director, fleet maintenance, Hub Group

When Bobby Allen, senior director, fleet maintenance at Hub Group, received a maintenance call about one of the more than 66,000 power units he supervises, he automatically, reaches for one of several Technology & Maintenance Council's recommended maintenance practices.

There's no point in reinventing the wheel, he says. "Anytime a maintenance issue comes up, I reach for the appropriate RP that is never further than my laptop. It's one of the many membership benefits of TMC," Allen says. A long-time member of TMC, Allen believes the peer-reviewed research behind each RP gives him the benefit of the most comprehensive, accurate information he needs to make the best-informed equipment decisions.

CLICK HERE for a free copy of TMC RP 169, Road Service Diagnostic Evaluation.

Which TMC RPs do you use the most?

I refer to RP 237A Torque Checking Guidelines for Disc Wheels and RP 169 Road Service Diagnostic Evaluation Service.

How does RP 169 assist you during an equipment breakdown?

I use it to guide the driver through the safest, most effective procedures to perform during a road service call. It gives me a list of procedures for systematically conducting a proper diagnostic evaluation of the primary electrical system - batteries, starter, alternator, and cabling. Only after this process has been completed, should a service provider contact the equipment user or fleet for repair or replacement authorization.

How confident are you in the quality of the information?

I feel like this is the best most practical guide out there because the RPs are peer reviewed and backed by research including real world experience and comprehensive testing by various committees made up of maintenance directors and other industry professionals.

How do you benefit from attending TMC meetings?

I've really had a chance to network with people I wold have never met. When i first became a director of maintenance, a former director said, "If you don't do anything else, now that you're a director you should be a member of TMC." I took his advice and really feel like the information presented at the meetings helps me stay current with technology changes. Plus, I take advantage of attending te committee meetings around subjects I'm interested in..