DRIVING THE INDUSTRY SINCE 1991
Yet, no matter how harsh or mild the winters are for his operations, there are cer- tain training and maintenance practices that never change for him and his staff through- out the year, such as reiterating safe driving techniques to bus drivers and implementing a solid preventive maintenance program. “A good preventive program all year long
will save you a lot of problems anytime of the year, and especially when a bus is out when it’s zero degrees,” Tede said. “It’s definitely critical to provide the best service regardless of the time of year.”
THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
Tede said there are a few changes to his
preventive maintenance program on Nov. 1, when he formally begins his winter prep process. His maintenance staff will replace wipers on the yellow buses with new winter wiper blades, plug the buses in at night and treat the fuel with a fuel additive to prevent it from gelling inside the bus fuel tank and causing operational issues and road failures.
When it comes to training during winter
prep time, he said his trainers emphasize idle times more. “In our district, we start the buses if it’s
below 17 degrees. “We use 17 degrees as the rule, but it’s based on the conditions of the time,” he explained. “We start a bit early if there’s frost on the windshield.” And instead of having every driver come
in early during these days, Tede and one of his mechanics are only the two to show up early and start the buses, which helps him save on his budget as not all drivers are reporting to work as early. Like Tede, Alfred Karam, transportation
director for Bethlehem Central School Dis- trict in Delmar, N.Y., said a “very detailed” preventive maintenance program keeps his yellow fleet in good condition all year. One main emphasis is changing fuel filters during regular intervals. During wintertime, this is especially important to help prevent filters from clogging. “We inspect and change our fuel filters religiously, either every 10,000 miles or 12
months, whichever comes first,” he said. “It depends on the size of the bus as to when we do oil changes, and other preventive service, but the 10,000 miles or 12 months is part of the preventive maintenance for all diesel buses. It varies with the smaller gasoline-powered buses.” As an extra measure, Karam’s maintenance staff also changes the fuel filters on their fuel pumps at least twice a year. He has three diesel pumps, and each filter costs about $8. His maintenance crew also treats their
fuel each time they receive a full dump with additives to prevent micros from growing inside, no matter the time of year. From Nov. 15 to March 15, the crew makes sure the diesel fuel used is mixed with at least 60 percent No. 2 diesel and 40 percent No. 1 kerosene to help prevent fuel gelling in the filters. Typically, the minimum fuel mixture
many follow is 80 or 90 percent diesel and 10 to 20 percent kerosene to help prevent fuel from gelling in the fuel filters, usually located near the bus engine. But that mix
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