When there is a vehicle maintenance approach where driver and technician are partners, there are improvements to preventive maintenance and vehicle uptime. One way to progress this is to borrow lessons and business practices and processes conceived and implemented within other industries, such as school bus transportation fleets which face many of the same challenges as trucking fleets.
Tracy Williams, a retired state commander for the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s school bus inspection program, has served as an educator who, during his tenure, often gave safety presentations to groups which included: school bus drivers, school bus mechanics, school bus vendors and school bus inspectors.
One of the philosophies that he instilled was that the school bus program was a metaphorical four-legged chair. He says: “If one or more of the legs are missing, the chair doesn’t work so well.”
1. Technicians.
2. Drivers.
3. Administration.
4. School bus inspectors.
If the four components aren’t working together and communicating, the system/program fails, says Williams.
THE OTHER SIDE
Now, in his current position as the safety director for V.A.T., Inc., (www.vatinc.com), a company responsible for safely operating 55 buses every day, Williams sees things from the other side, but believes that this philosophy provides the same results for his team.
“Our drivers and mechanics meet monthly and at some point share concerns and experiences,” he says. “Our drivers hand in paper write-ups for any discrepancies they find during their pre-trip and post-trip inspections.”
Williams explains that especially when the driver may have a difficult time explaining what they have experienced, or the technicians may not understand exactly what drivers want, it becomes increasingly crucial that the drivers and technicians feel comfortable communicating with one another.
“Our drivers and technicians have built a good rapport,” says Williams.
PENCIL WHIPPING
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) had a problem with its school bus drivers and bus transportation vendors "pencil whipping." This is where drivers do pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections in advance so they can save time.
As part of a transportation accountability and transparency initiative, CPS installed the Zonar telematics system on its and its bus transportation vendors' buses, says Paul Osland, CPS's chief of facilities. The system included an Electronic Vehicle Inspection Reporting (EVIR) system.
The EVIR helped CPS realize significant operational efficiencies by prompting drivers to conduct their required pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections.
The telematics system and EVIR provides CPS and its transportation vendors "a way to hold drivers more accountable,” says Osland. "Now, instead of getting driver inspection forms with no indication of when they did them or how long they took, department managers can see all of those details."
