bly without grants to help pay for them. The projected maintenance savings of electric versus diesel will have to be rather significant to cover the bus cost, charging in- frastructure and facility improvements. Work is ongoing in determining the overall cost benefit of zero emission buses, early estimates vary with up to 60 percent reduc- tion in maintenance expense. However, the following is not voodoo math. At current
replacement levels our industry requires approximately 35,000 replacements per year. At least $500 million per year for electric and the other $500 million per year over five years for low-emission buses is simply not enough federal support money to cover the shift to 100-percent electric power. If clean air regulators prevail in man- dating zero-emission school buses, then budgets and transportation bids will have to have completely different cost and business models.
Impact on Legacy Fleet Not only new buses but everything costs more, which further impacts the legacy fleet, parts, tires, fuel, and service requirements which are all driving up the cost of school bus maintenance and repairs. And adding further heartache to operations is that current non-electric re- placement vehicle orders and final pricing upon delivery are proving difficult to predict due to OEM supply issues which are often out of their control, adding surcharges and price increases not forecasted. Additionally, due to transport delays in the supply chain network, part shortages are becoming the new normal, especially the many parts manufactured abroad. This is contributing to extended repair times or side- lining equipment stretching the ability of the shops to maintain fleet availability with current spare ratios, typically 10 percent. To add more bad news, there was already a shortage of skilled technicians prior to the pandemic. What can you do? Don’t panic. A part of the solution
is simple. Accept the fact that you can only control your universe. Now is the perfect time to examine your operation and pay closer attention to part purchases as well as the policies, procedures and process (Three “P’s”) to maintain your fleet. Especially if you are faced with the challenge of extending the operating life of your legacy fleet, as you wait for the evolution of zero emis- sion products and the subsequent economies of scale to lower the financial impact of future buses. In past articles I have written quite a bit on the value
of having the three “P’s” in your shop culture to properly maintain your fleet. It would be informative for you to review those articles for understanding the return on investment in a structured maintenance program. As a fleet manager, you are and will continue to be
under a lot of pressure to make the right choices while making more purposeful decisions. The best way to do
that is to identify your fleets most important key activi- ties. One of the most important functions within today’s maintenance facility is the accurate measurement of key activities. Today we are inundated with hundreds of software solutions to assist managers in measuring fleet operations activity. No question that you should strive to implement a software solution to integrate with your district/company transportation departments systems. But first you must identify your most important vehicle operating metrics. Many of STNs advertiser partners offer excellent management solutions and can be found in the STN annual Buyers Guide. I have seen operators with fleet management systems
that generated over 100 reports. I asked who used them and who reviewed them. Answers varied but the burden of managing the data often resulted in the system over- whelming the users and subsequently was set-aside. To help manage the fleet I would focus on your solu-
tion, whether old or new, to provide at least the following metrics and be sure it is capable of integrating with the vehicle performance data collection device.
1. Miles traveled daily — To help stay on track with timely maintenance checks, and asset utilization
2. Daily driver vehicle pre- and post- trip reports — To keep the vehicle safe and in compliance
3. Vehicle speed — Compliance and safety 4. Vehicle OEM fault code alerts — To manage repair of critical bus systems
5. Fuel consumption — Tracking fuel consumption gives you insight to vehicle systems performance to MPG expectations and the performance of the driver
6. Repair time — Measure productivity and help identify training and feedback
7. Repair history — Life cycle cumulative cost of repairs
8. Parts inventory — Knowing inventory levels helps plan for scheduled repairs
Keep Technicians Happy Retain your technicians through incentives that don’t
cost a lot of money, by comparison to poor fleet repair practice. Formalize a progressive training program and invest in training them, build a team environment and compensate them fairly with a suitable benefit package. According to countless surveys by STN, employees don’t jump ship only because of money. Get creative in this competitive labor market. ●
Robert Pudlewski is the contributing tech editor to School Transportation News and is a member of the National School Transportation Association. He is the retired vice president of procurement and maintenanace for Laidlaw.
www.stnonline.com 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70
