My bus came straight out of the garage and broke down.
Mood:  not sure
many drivers ask, "why is the equipment in such bad shape, why does it come straight out of a garage broken ??"
Well, that's the million dollar question.

Lower Budgets
Smaller active fleet
older active fleet
operator abuse
general maintenance neglect
poor repair of a previous failure
There are 50 million reasons.

One of the biggest problems is the absence of Operator Level Maintenance. That is you, the driver. Driver level maintenance doesn't mean you have to fix anything. Maintenance simply needs you to know what you are operating and properly report problems by doing pre and post trip inspections correctly. Operators, for the most part, don't know the equipment and don't inspect the equipment. There will NEVER be a good fleet maintenance program without knowledgeable, active, driver involvment.
Keep in mind, proper driver inspections are the law.
Regulations 396.11 and 396.13.

The next biggest thing is at least half the mechanics cannot troubleshoot the equipment they are paid to repair. Training has to be established, but it needs more specialized than in the past. Training was done in 2003 with materials from MC-9's and 102A3's There was also some new materials, but not nearly enough. GLI and ATU need to offer financial assistance to contract employees so we can update our own educations as well. Wouldn't that be an investment ??

Generally, most maintenance locations are not concerned with what happens to the piece of equipment as long as it makes it to another maintenance facility before it breaks down.

It isn't all the mechanics fault that your bus breaks down when it came straight out of the garage.
A mechanic cannot predict the future. Some things break completely seperatly of what was just repaired. If your bus just got the brakes fixed, and it road fails for no AC, that is hardly that mechanics fault that just fixed the brakes. And keep in mind, all mechanics answer to supervisors. If the supervisor tells them to put it back in service, then they have no choice. The supervisors only concern is the number of out-of-service. There is NO quality control.
There are some real good mechanics out there in our Fleet. Many that have taught me some good stuff. But I think they are out numbered by the ones that take no initiative to make themselves better. It's time to start learning about Multiplexing, and they are still learning about Basic Electricity.
Our Mechanics and Supervisors should know as much as the people we had as trainers before.
Our trainers should be damn near engineers, and there should be one in every garage.
Our operators should know the equipment like the backs of their hands. And should be given techinical training on that equipment regularly.
you should not have to explain to an operator what the rear engine start switch is, they should know the day they drive their first run. The ignorance of most our drivers is unbelievable.
Maintenance needs to be involved, deeply, with the driver training program.
This equipment should not be out of service so much, but everyone is to blame for it's condition from the head of maintenance to the janitors. The equipment is neglected. Period.

D4505
Mood:  d'oh
They say MCI's new D4505 looks like a G-model in front, and a D - model in back....................................................................................................................So what happen was, someone got pissed at the G and drove a D- model up it's ass........

The G-Coach
Mood:  incredulous
Is it possible, or has the company gotten any kind of reimbursment on the G-Coach ? Like a Lemon Law.
Or do we have to suck it up and drive on because we helped design it ?
I read an article recently, (it is posted at the Dog House for download in PDF), which told all about the G-Coach a few years back. Rave reviews it got. They said it was designed specifically for Line Haul Service. That's funny because EVERYONE says it is nice, just not made for our kind of business.

The AC systems suck, rather Carrier or Thermo-King.
Entry Doors are almost all defective. (don't work in cold weather, none latch correctly, outter skins break in half)
How many caught fire at first ?
Charging system woe's.
What about those crappy door handles on all the service doors ?
Don't forget the front axle problems.
I recall many overheating issues also.
Power Steering sucks in them too, though it hasn't been brought up much.
I think we had some Tire and Wheel problems too.
Parcel Rack AC leaks all over the drivers.
Lavatory door sucks ass.
Heat Valve problems.
The turn signals above the drive axle constantly corroded.
Drivers Seat.
Wheelchair lift out of service most of the time.
Tag Axle bearing boxes and swing arms.
Emergency Exit window latches and handles.

With that being said, and aside from the Detroit Deisel engine and Allison Transmission, what is good about the G-Coach ??
And isn't it fair to say that much of the Company's financial woes (high Maintenance costs specifically)are due to the G-Coach ??

It's a conspiracy
Mood:  incredulous
I don't use that word often, but this is defenitly a conspiracy. It is 2005, and you are telling me that no one has come up with a better package for cookies ?? Specifically OREO's. What is the deal with that damn package ?? Chips Deluxe is another one. They got the little plastic tray in the foil package, like a lot of other cookies. You can't close them tight after opening. Some cookies have the little wire tie thingy on the end, that helps, but those packages are still a pain in the ass to get in and out of. Archway cookies. Now there is a dumbass package if I ever saw one. The conspiracy is, that someone has made a better package for cookies. They just won't use it because they know our cookies are going stale and we will have to buy more. Bastards. By-the-way, That package is out in Roswell with that Alien guy.

Nuts and Bolts
Mood:  irritated
What the hell happened to Nuts and Bolts newsletter ?
That was a pretty useful little tool to some of us.
I know half our mechanics can't read and write worth a damn, but some of us can.
It couldn't have been that expensive to produce that little thing. It was just a couple pages in Black and White.
I mean, management wants to improve the maintenance program, so they take away all our sources of good knowledge....Training Department and Nuts and Bolts.

It's Called A Saddle
Ever see those black marks all over a windshield ?
Or sometimes, worse, deep scratches. If anything gets done about that when it happens, it is usually a wiper blade change at most.
It's called a SADDLE folks.



The saddle that the wiper blade sits in is worn out and needs changed.
Some wiper arms have bushings in the ends that can be changed too. These things wear out and require maintenance. Changing the blade isn't really going to help too much for too long. Also, changing the saddles will make sure the wipers clean well, not to mention it is a lot cheaper than replacing blades and arms all the time.
There are 3 different sizes, and here is the part numbers......
3G-34-73 NARROW
3J-34-42 MEDIUM
3J-34-65 WIDE
the bushings are, 3B-34-96
P.S....a wiper blade is the metal thing the Refill sits in. A Refill is not a blade.

A letter to the bosses....
Mood:  irritated
Ours should be the leader of all Fleet Maintenance programs in the Country. Why does it seem like one of the worst ?
Three words for our upper managment.....Quality Control Program.
Why have we never had any kind of quality control program ? It would be nice to know how many roadfailures are due to poor maintenance.
A garage supervisor is not going to enforce any quality control when his manager is only concerned with out-of-service numbers, not at all on quality of repair. The mechanic is just there to do his 8 hours and go home, he doesn't care what happens to that bus after he clocks out, not his problem. Supervision at a Service Island ????? RIGHT !!
Most of them are just guys getting a free check.
(eliminating service island managers was a real smooth move by the way, that was tried before)
You wonder why the out of service numbers are so high.....It's because you don't have any Quality Control and no supervision.
Come out and check the buses at random sometime. See what you find. 90 percent out of service is what you would find if you get technical about it.
Quiz a mechanic or two, see what they know. Ask where the LC9 Starter Solenoid is on the G45.
Ask a Service Island Mechanic how to make a PO or check some of their RO's, if they are making any.

Maintenance Training
Mood:  don't ask
What's this Maintenance Department need even more than Quality Control ??
Education.
A Quality Training Program.
How does management address our lack of educated mechanics ?? They nearly eliminate training. We now have 3 active trainers (2 of which are some of our youngest, least experienced), the rest have been moved back to the garage floors as supervisors. At least we have a few good supervisors now.
It's true that our training program sucked before, but was better than nothing. It needed expanded not eliminated. It would be financially beneficial if done correctly. The rewards would be in the effectiveness of the mechanics. We have way too many mechanics that can't troubleshoot. The most common method of troubleshooting I see is to guess what's wrong, and replace a part, if that don't fix it, replace another part until the problem goes away.
Even more common is "will it make it to the next garage ??" Basic troubleshooting and basic general maintenance are what we need more of.

Battery Maintenance
Mood:  irritated
Has anyone in this Fleet ever heard of Battery Maintenance. GOOD GOD. How many buses a day do I see with missing battery caps, no battery hold downs, corrosion all over, over flowing, underfilled, loosely connected batteries !!??
This is basic stuff, easy stuff, quick stuff. A battery needs a hold down. That ruins batteries when they aren't held down firmly.
How much money this company WASTES on batteries I would hate to see. Poor battery maintenance also over-works the charging system, shortening the life of it's components. Battery Maintenance is one of the most basic of all mechanical fundamentals. We need to get more attention on the basics.

P.S. Sometimes, batteries can be charged !! Holy Cow.