For a truck driver waiting in a repair shop, every tick of the clock feels like a pin prick, bleeding money from what would otherwise have been a productive day. Drivers get paid by the mile but, unfortunately, pacing back and forth in a waiting room doesn’t count.
It’s a maddening experience, according to Kevin Bowers, director of service operations at TranSource, a dealership that services Hino, Isuzu, Mack, and Volvo medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
“Every driver or every trucking company that drops their truck off to us, they’re mad when they get here,” Bowers told Fleet Maintenance. “They’re mad because the truck’s broke, they’re mad because they’re going to have to spend money to fix it, and they’re mad because they don’t have the truck to pull their load.”
The ramifications for the fleet are twofold: a truck not on the road is an unprofitable one and ticked-off drivers are as bad for business as downtime.
“Reliable equipment plays a big part in retention, and if a fleet is not addressing their needs in a timely manner, or supporting their drivers in every way possible, it’s more likely they’ll leave,” said Tristan Nolan, Werner Enterprises’ product manager for maintenance, equipment, terminal network, and technology platform.
That’s why fleets and maintenance providers must use every tool at their disposal to speed up what can be a very long repair process rife with potentially long part lead times and understaffed shops. And for the challenge of expediting the repair process, it appears that digital tools—powered not by pneumatics or electricity, but by data—are providing the biggest help. These include all sorts of apps, platforms, and acronyms, from SRM (service relationship management) to CMMS (computer maintenance management systems). They may work in combination or alone, but they all have a knack for unlocking more efficiency and uptime than fleets ever had before.
High-level solutions
Werner Enterprises hangs on the cutting edge of the digital tool spectrum. One of the largest for-hire fleets in North America, the Omaha, Nebraska-based carrier developed its own telematics solution called Werner EDGE, which feeds data into the Werner Event Resolution System (ERS). Sixty road breakdown specialists use ERS to assist with issues ranging from preventive maintenance to major equipment failures. The team also deals with estimate reviews, invoices, and warranty filing via cloud-based ERS workflows. Nolan said Werner has cut driver dwell time by more than half and cut time per call to address vendor repair needs by 10 minutes since the inception of EDGE and ERS.
The logistics company manages 8,000 tractors, 24,000 trailers, and utilizes a network of 13,000 repair shops. Werner has also integrated with OEMs Daimler Truck North America and Navistar, as well as SRM provider Decisiv, to widen its reach and reduce time on the phone.
“With our integrations, phone calls are eliminated, drivers are served faster, and agents can address a higher volume of repair needs,” Nolan explained.
TranSource, meanwhile, has dealerships across North Carolina and South Dakota, with 130 bays spanning several facilities and 100 ASE- and OEM-certified technicians, who also service the dealer’s lease and rental fleet. TranSource solely uses Decisiv’s SRM.
This end-to-end software solution, which Volvo Group brands as the ASIST SRM, expedites estimates and approvals, and manages and streamlines the overall repair process. This starts with Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR) data, after which work orders are quickly created through the Karmak Fusion dealer management system (DMS). The necessary information, from diagnostic reports and estimates to warranty coverage and customers’ preferred inspection and service procedures, all funnel down to the technician making the repair. Basically, those who need to know will know.
“It helps me manage my business, because I can keep my eye on the ball out there and what’s going on,” said Bowers, who has used Decisiv for about two decades. “Anything problematic that happens out there, I’m involved in; I’m copied on all the case notes flying back and forth within service departments.”
Through Decisiv’s Builder app, TranSource has made nine custom inspection procedures totally paperless, including for lease/rental and used-truck turn-in, trailers, and maintenance programs.
This type of technology is no longer just for the larger companies, though. Smaller fleets and shops can also leverage these tools if they drop the pen and paper and connect to the cloud.
Inspection gadgets
For a dealer like TranSource, a service request is needed to start a job. This can be kicked off typically with a Department of Transportation pre-trip inspection or DVIR. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires this inspection at the end of each workday, with the report submitted to the fleet when reaching the home terminal. The compliance and safety measure is the first line of detection for defective equipment, ideally ensuring a fleet does not put a truck with underinflated tires or bad brakes on the road.
Using an electronic DVIR is the first step toward speeding up the repair process; Werner does this through the EDGE system.
“Werner’s professional drivers conduct pre-trip and post-trip inspections every time they get in the truck or finish up a delivery,” Nolan said. “In addition, Werner Maintenance places a high emphasis on regular inspections by technicians.”
TranSource does not itself offer eDVIRs but integrates with many other telematics and fleet-management platforms that offer the tool, which can be accessed from a driver’s smart device.
Going paperless circumvents the “protracted” manual route, explained Richard Clark, product manager for Chevin FleetWave, a fleet-maintenance management provider. Before helping develop the latest iteration of the FleetWave platform, he was an avid user of the technology as a technician and later as a fleet manager at a large U.K.-based fleet.
“When I was training as an apprentice, the driver would fill in the paper document and have to walk across the massive yard to the transport office,” he recalled. From there, the shop was contacted, and a technician would have to grab the truck keys to bring it in.
FleetWave Forms, the platform’s eDVIR, alleviates this process. “If there is something wrong, the workshop gets a notification, and they can already go and pre-plan, pick parts, and be organized before the driver has even arrived,” Clark explained. “You realize how inefficient that way of working is compared to now, and the savings of time and improvement in efficiencies.”
Using a tablet or other smart device to check off inspection boxes also guides the driver through the process to ensure nothing is missed.
“Typically, drivers have pencil-whipped,” relayed Fred Fakkema, VP of safety and compliance for Zonar Systems, a fleet management provider. “They just check the box—they don’t actually get out and walk around the vehicle to see what’s going on.”
Fakkema saw this often in his 25 years at the Washington State Patrol, where he also led the Commercial Vehicle Division. And even though the driver may miss a loose mudflap or broken marker light, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) inspector won’t, and visible issues will likely initiate a more thorough, time-consuming 37-point inspection. The CVSA officer will put the truck out of service until the defects are fixed, and the driver will sit and wait. And not make any money.
Zonar developed the EVIR (electronic verified inspection reporting) system, which guides the driver to inspect specific zones by scanning RFID tags stuck to the truck.
“If there’s a defect, once the driver does the complete walkaround and docks the tablet, [the data] immediately go to the back office for the mechanics to see,” Fakkema explained. “They can take a picture and attach it to the EVIR, and now there’s no confusion of what that defect is or what needs to be replaced.”
The configurable EVIR has been used for OTR trucks, buses, forklifts, and even a roller coaster, Fakkema said.
Expect the shop to be a little busier at first because new users’ defect reports show “hockey stick” growth, as drivers are catching defects that were previously overlooked. “That levels out to a normal plane once fleets get used to it,” Fakkema said.
Confidence building
Pennsylvania-based Treeways, a vegetation management service that has 1,100 power units, ranging from Class 7 vocational bucket trucks to pickups, relies on fleet maintenance provider Fleetio’s Inspections app for eDVIRs.
A main reason is to simplify the process because “the driver is a tree trimmer first and a driver second,” said Robert Polka, Treeways director of fleet operations. The company worked with Fleetio and Altec Fleet Services to develop a mobile inspection solution that was easy to use and would help drivers detect broken lights and leaking fluids. This ultimately builds more confidence, Polka explained, because logged defects automatically take the truck out of service and immediately generate an email to the shop or fleet director.
“All too often, fleets are putting a lot of pressure on the driver or the operator to identify issues with the truck,” Polka said. “They do their part and identify issues, but they never get resolved. So how many times does that happen until the driver loses his or her incentive to want to really do a thorough DVIR and identify issues?”
The method ends up saving time so workers can get to the jobsite faster. Fleetio customer Zerorez Atlanta, a carpet cleaning business with 47 Chevy Express vans, reduced vehicle inspection time by 65% and cut hourly maintenance costs by $3,500 in the first 45 days, according to fleet manager Josue Zavala.
Fleetio also allows drivers to attach pictures and voice memos of problems, even ones that might not warrant a CVSA officer’s attention but may make the job harder, like a door handle that takes a few tries to shut correctly. Fleetio Product Manager Michael Harrison explained “small cosmetic defects that are frustrating to a driver” can also be logged and stay in the system so technicians can see and address them during another service event.
Fleets do need to convince drivers the new technology will make their lives easier, which can be an uphill battle.
“Drivers are initially quite skeptical that they have a new piece of technology that they’re responsible for keeping track of,” Harrison acknowledged. “Once they realize that it actually gives them a better mouthpiece for reporting the things that they’re interested in and getting things resolved more quickly, that sort of consternation dissipates.”
The office angle
Before discussing how these digital tools help the technician, let’s take a side trip to the back office. The data these tools generate allow managers far greater transparency into the operation, which can help with everything from scheduling PMs to planning maintenance budgets.
Transparency was the main draw for Robert Francis, fleet manager at Prudential Overall Supply, to adopt Fleetio. Prudential delivers everything from uniforms and towels to pharmaceuticals across the country, using hundreds of step vans, about 80 box trucks, and 20 Class 8 tractors.
Prior to deploying the platform, Prudential used an “antiquated system that was built for building maintenance,” he said. Only the technicians and administrators in the fleet department had access.
“The general managers had no clue what was going on—they had no visibility to the expenses for the fleet, or when their services were due,” Francis said. “They were in the blind unless we sent them an email saying these trucks are coming up for service,” Francis continued.
Now they do have that visibility into budgets, fuel costs, maintenance costs, and truck status, though without the ability to edit work orders or vehicle information, he added.
Technicians can also alert managers at the facilities when any of their vehicles are due for PMs, so they can ensure a spare truck is ready to take its place. Francis said managers can get an overview of how many trucks are due or overdue for service. The platform also helps locate mobile maintenance providers when needed, and though they can’t schedule mobile services like they can with in-house services, an auto-integrate feature pays out vendors quicker. Overall, there is far less paperwork, which Francis related is “the difference between writing an essay paper and doing a one-pager.”
“This access completely changed the way our general managers look at their fleet,” Francis said. “Our local GMs are all over the country, and [Fleetio provides] the ease of use to give them one dashboard to where they can see the health of their fleet.”
To get buy-in from the top brass for digital tools, Francis advised to key-in on the specific time savings.
Fleetio’s Harrison said digitizing the electronic approval process can save “hours and hours of time” for both the shop and the fleet.
“Instead of having to play a game of phone tag between multiple parties to get individual line items approved, that can all happen electronically, using auto approvals in some cases based on logic the fleets can build,” he said.
This allows everyone from the driver to the technician to become involved in the maintenance lifecycle.
Harrison found it curious that maintenance is generally one of the top three fleet line items, though an area where management is “most blind.”
“The irony is that it’s one of the easiest places to save money when operating a fleet if you can centralize the data and learn from it, and find ways in which you could be operating more efficiently or doing things in a more preventative manner,” he asserted.
Bay efficiency
The proactive use of fleet-management tools will get the driver and asset to the shop faster and get the work approved as well. The vehicle still needs the repairs, though.
The technician might already have some information and photos attached to the case, though they can also gather several critical data points during the courtesy inspection when a truck comes in.
Bowers said this e-inspection primarily helps the dealer upsell services but also is a safety measure. “We don’t want to see something safety-related on the truck and not do anything about it, let it go, and two days later the truck has a failure that kills somebody because we didn’t follow through on it.”
A TranSource service writer will connect a Noregon JPro tool to the vehicle, and any faults and vehicle data are displayed on a tablet. This is sent to the Decisiv system and creates the case. The service writer will ask follow-up questions, such as if an engine issue arose in traffic, and gather info to help the assigned technician. With the push of a button on the ASIST platform, the case exports into Karmak Fusion to generate a work order.
Any additional sold items are pushed from ASIST to the business system for invoicing purposes. The platform estimates the time of repair, which allows TranSource supervisors to get the right technician on the job. For example, an engine overhaul could take a week or more, and this helps allocate the right person to do the repair efficiently. Other less labor-intensive services, such as alignments, might be sublet to an appropriate vendor.
“You don’t want to give technicians a job they are not familiar with,” Bowers said. “We try to give technicians a little bit of everything to their level, where they can handle anything.”
Decisiv also integrates with Mitchell 1’s TruckSeries TruckLabor module to estimate repair times and analyze technician performance to further increase their efficiency. Labor and parts cost are tracked via Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards (VMRS) codes.
FleetWave also guides shop users to mark attendance, allocate work, order parts, and upload media.
“It becomes a central source of truth for that whole fleet journey, whether it’s looking at what vehicles to purchase, or making sure you’re compliant, and that you’ve met your manufacturer’s warranty service intervals,” Clark said. “Because we can have all that data in that one place, it gives that actionable information so you can be proactive rather than reactive.”
In the end, getting software to do as much work order and administrative tasks as possible frees up technicians to get the repairs done.
“When I became a mechanic, I never wanted an office job to fill in paperwork—and that’s kind of exactly how the job has gone,” Clark noted.
This is something the repair shops cannot afford because of the technician shortage.
“Top-quality technicians are harder to come by, so we need to be able to make sure they do what they’re good at doing,” Clark concluded.
Leveraging those technicians better should pay off in the bay with more efficient repair and maintenance, which will get drivers out of the waiting room and accruing miles again. And that’s the best resolution for everyone.
