Completing Maintenance Tasks

Why Completion Data Matters

A task is only as useful as the data you capture when you close it. Completing maintenance in TrailerBase unlocks your cost reports, unblocks the trailer for rental, triggers the next recurring task, and feeds your AI Maintenance Suggestions. A thorough completion takes two minutes and pays for itself many times over.

Completing a Task

1. Open the task from the Maintenance list or the trailer detail page.
2. Click Complete in the top-right of the task detail.
3. Fill in the completion form.
4. Click Mark Complete.

The trailer is immediately unblocked for the task's date window, the task is moved to the Completed tab, and if the task is recurring the next one is created on the spot.

Fields on the Completion Form

Actual Cost

Enter the all-in cost: parts plus labor plus any outside shop fees. This number flows into your Maintenance Cost Analytics dashboard and is compared to your estimate so you can see where your guesses are off.

Labor Hours

Total billable hours spent. If multiple people worked on the task, enter the sum. Labor hours power the cost per hour metrics on your reports and help you benchmark your team against outside shops.

Parts List

Add each part used with its SKU, supplier, unit cost, quantity, and optionally warranty and serial number. Parts can be selected from your Part Library or added fresh — any new part is saved to the library for reuse. See parts-tracking for the full workflow.

Completion Notes

Free-form markdown notes: what you actually did, what you found, any follow-up items, torque specs, fluid levels. If you discover a second issue while doing the work, note it here and create a new task — do not combine unrelated work into one closed task.

Before / After Photos

Upload at least one before and one after photo. Photos are stored per-task and are visible on the trailer's maintenance history. They are invaluable for warranty claims, dispute resolution, and handoffs.

Mileage at Service

Enter the trailer's current mileage. This field is required when the task has a miles-based recurring interval, and strongly recommended otherwise. Mileage drives miles-based recurrences, average cost per mile reporting, and AI suggestions.

Partial Completion and Hold

If the work is not fully done, you have two options instead of Complete:

• Pause — keeps the task open and optionally extends the due date. Use when you are waiting on parts.
• Close as Not Done — marks the task closed without completion data. The trailer is unblocked but the recurring schedule is not advanced. Use this when a task is no longer applicable.

What Happens After Completion

1. The task moves to the Completed tab and becomes read-only (you can still add photos and notes).
2. The trailer is unblocked for the task's date window.
3. Recurring schedules generate the next occurrence.
4. Cost and labor roll up to your Reports.
5. The trailer's lifetime maintenance cost and cost per mile are updated in real time.
6. If your organization has email digest enabled, completion appears in the weekly summary.

Tips

• Close tasks the day you finish them. Batching completions at the end of the week makes photos and notes less accurate.
• Photograph serial numbers and receipts. A quick phone snap of a parts receipt means you can always reconstruct the cost breakdown later.
• Use voice-to-text for notes. Long, specific notes beat short vague ones — and your phone makes them easy to capture.