Are your technicians and drivers at odds with one another?

While researching this article, one thing became abundantly clear – many fleets have a disjointed line of communication between their drivers and technicians. This disconnect can have adverse effects on the overall success of the fleet and the company.

Michael Keeley, vehicle services manager for Alpine Logistics, has helped his team set procedures to ensure good driver and technician relations. Alpine Logistics (www.goalpinelogistics.com), a full-service logistics company that provides transportation services for multiple industries, maintains a complete fleet consisting of tractors, reefers, dry vans and flatbeds. It provides services across the nation with a terminal in Blackfoot, Idaho, and Indianapolis, Ind.

In an effort to streamline communication and ensure its fleet is among the best in the country, Alpine Logistics opened internal maintenance facilities at each of their terminals. This integration was imperative to increasing the quality of the repairs the company was seeing, decreasing the cost of fleet maintenance and increasing uptime, says Keeley. “Our internal facilities allow us to control priority and quality of repairs.”

DAUNTING TASK

When Keeley first started working for the company, he came on as the fleet manager. “As a fleet manager, I would make sure all equipment was repaired and any necessary preventative maintenance was done.” Although this sounds simple, it proved to be a daunting task.

Keeley found there was a major disconnect between drivers and technicians which was linked to:

-          Scheduling. “Often drivers do not see or speak to the technician,” he says. The drivers would often return during technician off hours and sometimes fail to communicate necessary repairs or concerns to the service facility.

-          Area of specialization. Keeley says, “Drivers and technicians often do not speak the same language.” Technicians tend to speak in mechanical terms while drivers speak in logistical terms.

Keeley’s position as fleet manager also included coordinating the necessary repairs between the driver and the technician and ensuring they were done on time. Initially, the technicians reported to the shop foremen and the shop foremen didn’t report to Keeley. He noticed non-safety related issues the driver had asked to be fixed might not have been completed. “It was difficult to have to depend on someone else,” he says.

THIS “THING” BETWEEN DRIVERS AND TECHNICIANS

“There’s something between truck drivers and technicians,” says Keeley. “Some of them can work really well together, some don’t.” He sees the lack of communication and respect between drivers and technicians as something that can be avoided, if not fully removed from the situation.

He believes that drivers who have a lot of experience in the industry can hear noises on the road that a technician may not hear in the shop, and that some technicians might be quick to diagnose an issue saying, “It’s just this…or that.”

He used to deal with this brushoff a lot, but he doesn’t blame the technician. “Technicians get a lot of misinformation from drivers. I think that’s what it stems from.” Keeley has taken it into his own hands and cut all of that out. To streamline the process between the shop and the fleet and assure adherence, Keeley asked to be in charge of the shops, which he believed would improve workflow – and it has. Now, he is in charge of both shops and has retained his position as fleet manager.  Keeley is untrained as a diesel technician, but he says he uses this to his advantage. “I depend on my shop foremen for their expertise.” He feels shop foremen are still the “brains” as far as making decisions with the truck.

HEAR AND UNDERSTAND

American human rights author, activist and speaker, Bryant McGill said, “One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” For drivers and technicians, the opposite can be true, as well. The lack of communication between drivers and technicians, and the lack of respect that stems from that, can just as easily hinder the working relationship between the two.

Drivers for Alpine Logistics are required to fill out both their DVIR and a company-designed sheet explaining to the technicians exactly what is wrong with the truck every time they return from a trip. This, explains Keeley, is “to make sure that everything has been covered.” Once he has gone over the DVIR, Keeley acts as a bridge between the driver and the technician.

 Drivers receive a work order detailing everything that the technician has done to their truck. He says, “All of the things the driver has listed will be addressed on the sheet. The driver can then feel comfortable that each specific issue has been addressed.”

Another aspect that feeds into communication between the drivers and technicians is the importance of understanding the other parties’ duties. From his experience, Keeley believes it is very important for technicians to understand a driver’s duties. He doesn’t believe it is as important for a driver to know the responsibilities of a technician.

Technicians need to understand that the companies have strict windows of opportunity to meet for pickups and deliveries in order to help maintain good customer relationships. Therefore, they can understand the importance of doing whatever they can in the shop to avoid costly and time-wasting breakdowns on the road. He noted the most of Alpine Logistics’ trucks are Volvos that are still under warranty. This allows the drivers to take their trucks to almost any Volvo shop for repairs.

COMMUNICATION

When the drivers start working for Alpine Logistics, they are required to go through a detailed training process that includes learning about the equipment. Drivers learn about the truck’s fluids, how the truck works and how individual systems within the truck work. “This is also where we go over the drivers’ duties as far as the requirements of filling out an extra vehicle condition sheet when they come back to their terminal,” says Keeley.  He tells each new driver to come see him anytime he has any questions about vehicle operation or maintenance.  He expects the shop foremen to keep the same open-line of communication with the technicians.

 “We developed our own system where I get as much data from the driver, as much information that I can get out of the technician, and I coincide the two rather than just have a technician/driver relationship,” Keeley explains. “Neither of those parties has the accountability.  “That falls on me. I’m accountable.” The objective, he says, is to ensure that any work that the driver says need to be done to a truck gets done by the technician.

Alpine Logistics services the trucks every 15,000 miles. Because the trucks run about 12,000 to 14,000 miles every month, priorities need to be set and met, Keeley says, and that is happening thanks to the imporved communications between drivers and technicians.

Currently, the company doesn’t have a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). Keeley has created his own system that lets him keep everything organized so he knows what is going on in the shop and on the road.