By Fleet Management Weekly Staff
February 4, 2026
Fleet maintenance has evolved considerably over the past few decades, especially in recent years. Mobile maintenance has moved from a minor niche to a major player, with customers expecting rapid, on-demand service wherever they are. While more mobile maintenance companies enter the market each year, many are owned and operated by large corporations that prioritize profits over performance. Those that focus on recruiting high-quality technicians are often local or regional players without a national footprint.
Coltrain Onsite Fleet Care, founded by brothers Kyle and Kevin Coltrain, emerged several months ago as a fierce player in the mobile maintenance space. Family-owned and operated, the company delivers consistent, high-quality service by keeping its focus on its technicians. As descendants of the founders of Dickinson Fleet Services, the Coltrain brothers bring extensive experience identifying top technicians to deliver best-in-class service nationwide. Coltrain Onsite Fleet Care works with commercial fleets of all sizes, going above and beyond to handle routine repairs and maintenance tasks on-site.
We interviewed both Coltrain brothers to learn more about their company’s recent launch and its strong early momentum. The first part of our interview was with Kyle Coltrain, Co-Executive Officer at Coltrain Onsite Fleet Care:
Tell us about the recent launch of Coltrain Onsite Fleet Care.
Coltrain Onsite Fleet Care formally launched operations in September 2025. In a few short months, we’ve built significant momentum as we expand across the country. Based on our experience and a broader view of the fleet maintenance and repair industry, we’ve observed a rise in corporate consolidation. Large corporations and private equity firms were taking over, which sometimes brought certain advantages but also turned the business into more of a numbers game. Quality began to decline as the focus shifted from caring for customers and technicians to appeasing the boardroom.
Kyle Coltrain
We believe there’s a better way in this industry: to provide high-quality service to customers while creating an exceptional workplace for technicians. We are, and always will be, family-owned and operated. We believe in putting people over profits and in finding the best talent in the industry. One of our managers referred to us as the special forces of mobile maintenance and repair because of the thoroughness of our vetting process. We take a quality-over-quantity approach, which truly differentiates us.
What was the genesis of how this came about? Can you tell us about the family business’ history?
Kevin and I are part of the Dickinson-Coltrain family. Bob Dickinson is our grandfather, Dick Dickinson is our great-uncle, Ted Coltrain is our father, and Mike Dickinson is our uncle. They were the four founders and owner-operators of Dickinson Fleet Services. Kevin and I have been part of this industry since we were kids, joining the company straight out of school in field roles. As we worked our way up through the company, we saw Dickinson go from family-owned to backed by private equity and then by mega-corporations. If you look at national competitors, they are all in a similar position.
We felt there had to be a better way that didn’t put quantity over quality and hire just anyone. Now more than ever, customers demand the best technicians, straightforward billing, timely invoicing, and superior service. That’s what we bring to the table. We explored the market and found that, if we wanted to find a new home, we would have to build it ourselves.
With so many mobile maintenance options available, how do you differentiate yourselves?
Our number one differentiator is that we are family-owned and operated and always will be. Our focus is on taking care of people—if we provide a best-in-class experience for our employees, they provide the same for our customers. There are some great regional and local mom-and-pop shops with a similar mindset, but they lack our national scale. We can provide consistent quality and pricing to fleets from coast-to-coast. A service performed in Miami will be priced the same and delivered with the same high quality as in Cincinnati or Baton Rouge.
While we could grow as large and as fast as we want, given our network and industry demand, we’re choosing not to sacrifice our status as a family-owned and operated business. We have the best team in the industry, a key differentiator for a national provider.
In the next year, what do you see happening in the US mobile maintenance space?
It’s continuing to grow and scale substantially. Fleet uptime is more critical than ever; consumers expect same-day delivery, whereas 10 years ago, package delivery might have taken one to two weeks. That places significant strain on fleets to keep their equipment running and complete all service during scheduled downtime. That’s the advantage of mobile maintenance: you save money and reduce vehicle downtime by avoiding the need to transport a unit to and from a shop during traditional business hours.
As mobile maintenance continues its upward trend, we have a significant opportunity to provide fleets with high-quality service from the best technicians. They’ll have peace of mind knowing their vehicle will get where it needs to go on time and in good condition.
What should people in the industry be doing to encourage more people to become technicians?
We view the tech shortage as a massive opportunity. The smaller the pool, the more technicians focus on working for the best company in the industry. They want to work at a company that focuses solely on technicians, not one where they’re a cost center at another fleet or a small piece of a bigger pie. Other companies may have begun by training and recruiting technicians in-house before outsourcing, but we keep the focus solely on technicians. So, we see the tech shortage as an opportunity, not a risk.
Today, technicians are valued and paid more than ever before. There’s a societal belief that everyone needs a college degree and a white-collar job, but that’s not always a good fit. There are plenty of opportunities to become a best-in-class diesel mechanic, where you get to work outside using your hands, which can align well with some people’s interests, skill sets, and work environment preferences. These are well-paying jobs that allow you to work outside, interact with customers, and love what you do and who you work with. I think we should educate the graduating high school workforce on how a career as a technician can offer a good living and a fulfilling way to support one’s family.
Can you share a fleet success story?
We give our leaders and technicians the autonomy to do everything possible to take care of the customer. In Cincinnati, a customer’s unit broke down at a truck stop and needed immediate assistance. We arrived, examined the unit, and found that the closest available part was two hours away in Columbus. The customer needed the truck up and running, so they authorized us to drive there to retrieve the part. On the way back, our technician contacted the fleet manager to ask what the drivers wanted to eat.
The fleet manager told him it wasn’t necessary, but the technician insisted because the drivers had been sitting at that truck stop for five hours in the heat. He wanted to ensure they were taken care of. The customer was very touched that we cared enough about his drivers to ensure they received a best-in-class experience. He said, “You’re going to take care of our fleet for life. We don’t want anybody else.”
What made Kevin and me the proudest is that no one told our mobile technician to do that. He knew that when a driver breaks down, we do what we can to take care of them. We give our technicians autonomy so they don’t have to wade through any red tape or SOPs. They know their mission is to take care of the customer, and in turn, we take good care of them.
Next, we spoke with Kevin Coltrain, Co-Executive Officer of Coltrain Onsite Fleet Care:
Kevin Coltrain
You refer to technicians as “defenders of the road.” What do you mean by that?
A technician’s job is to ensure trucks on the road are safe every day, not only for drivers but also for commuters who share the road. The goal of our mechanics and technicians is to protect the road from harm so it remains a safe place to work. We want every truck driver to get home safely to their family at the end of the day. Our mechanics have enormous power and responsibility to keep the road safe, which is why we call them “defenders of the road.” We want our team to know how valuable they are to the transportation industry in ensuring our roads, interstates, and freeways are safe places to travel.
What’s your secret to finding good technicians?
Retention is key because the easiest way to grow is to ensure you don’t lose your current workforce. We do everything we can to support our team, as only a family-owned and operated company can. Many of our technicians are referrals. When our technicians love the company, understand its mission, and care about its values, they usually want to bring others into the fold.
Many of our success stories stem from a technician posting on social media about how much they love Coltrain Onsite Fleet Care. Other technicians see that and reach out, asking how they can get involved. We then conduct multiple interviews before bringing them on board. Sometimes the best way to gauge their performance is to watch them work. As Kyle mentioned, we want to provide consistent service across the board, so we’re very diligent in our recruiting and onboarding process.
What do you see happening in the next year in the mobile maintenance space?
The mobile maintenance space has taken over fleet maintenance entirely, and that trend will continue. When we entered the industry 10-15 years ago, our major competitors were small shops. Mobile maintenance wasn’t as big a need—most of it involved oil changes, DOTs, lights, and minor repairs. Now, truck technology is so advanced that we can perform large-scale repairs on a customer’s lot. The need for shops is decreasing as our trucks and road technicians become more advanced. As phone and computer technologies evolve, technicians can perform higher-level diagnostics in the field and fix issues on-site.
How do you address safety concerns around mobile maintenance?
Safety is of the utmost importance to our team, as we want to ensure the safety of drivers on the road and our technicians. We take many precautions. For example, our trucks use telematics that detect when they exceed a specified speed or when a seatbelt is unbuckled, and send a text message alerting managers. That’s not done to micromanage, but to ensure our team’s safety and provide assistance if a safety issue arises.
We also inform our customers that we don’t accept every job. We won’t send our technician to fix a truck that’s broken down on the shoulder of the interstate because it’s dangerous. We can refer our customers to local partners, but that’s not the kind of work we do. Our technicians repair trucks in safe locations, such as a customer’s lot. As a company, we also provide our technicians with the necessary protective equipment to perform repairs safely. If they don’t have the required equipment, we either decline the job or provide it for them.
To learn more about how Coltrain Onsite Fleet Care can keep your fleet up and running, click here.
