BUSRide Maintenance November 2014

THE EXCLUSIVE MAINTENANCE RESOURCE FOR THE TRANSIT AND MOTORCOACH INDUSTRY

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2 BUSRIDE MAINTENANCE | NOVEMBER.2014 busridemaintenance.com

VOL. 04 • NO. 11

Publisher / Editor in Chief Steve Kane

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Group PublisherSali T. Williams

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Executive Editor David Hubbard

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EditorRichard Tackett

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Art DirectorStephen Gamble

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Production Coordinator Ching In Hsu

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Accountant Fred Valdez

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POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to:

BUSRide Magazine4742 North 24th Street, Suite 340

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Fax: (602) 277-7588 busridemaintenance.com

A publication of:

BUS industry SAFETY council

FROM THE EDITOR

Products and Services

From the Editor

Departments

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Far too many bus operators, many who may not fit the classic image of the “rogue operator,” are seeing their businesses shut down by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) because of maintenance safety violations. Many of these operators

may be reading this letter now. It’s imperative that maintenance professionals review and enforce the FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scoring system for determining what constitutes an unsafe vehicle fleet.

A major aspect of CSA enforcement has to do with record-keeping. Pre- and post-trip inspections must be properly conducted on every vehicle, with results meticulously recorded in Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIRs). Follow through with these policies and ensure that every employee knows to do the same.

FMCSA Safety Investigators are studious about inspecting maintenance logs, so drivers and technicians must know that even the most minor bookkeeping slip-up will negatively affect their company’s well-being. Any violations related to the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC will negatively affect a company’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) score for two years.

Educate drivers and technicians about keeping proper maintenance logs, and then make sure that every employee is following the letter of the law.

Log onto the SMS website (https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms) to check scores in the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC and ask for a review of any records that may be inaccurate. If there’s any lesson to be learned from the companies already shut down by the FMCSA, it’s to never let your company’s safety standards slip.

Richard TackettEditorBUSRide Magazine

7Automotive Lift Institute answers FAQs on certification Manufacturers association promotes safe use of automotive lifts

Maintenance finds its own levels ABC Companies Service Centers repair, rebuild and refurbishes according to maintenance needs By David Hubbard

4On the cover:

A quick note about CSA

busridemaintenance.com | BUSRIDE MAINTENANCE 3

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Doran and MN8 Foxfire bring photoluminescent tech to buses and motorcoaches

Doran Manufacturing and MN8 Foxfire announced the agreement for Doran to bring MN8 Foxfire’s Advanced Photoluminescent Technology® illuminating safety products to the bus and motorcoach markets. MN8 Foxfire uses a proprietary process to use light and energy to illuminate safety signs, adhesive strips and epoxy floor markings to provide improved visibility of the critical paths to safety during an untimely accident both in daylight and overnight hours of the day. Cincinnati-based Doran Manufacturing has been creating customized solutions for more than 60 years, including providing high-quality transportation safety products since the early 1970s.Doran ManufacturingCincinnati, OH

Diagnostic tool “hears” problems before they lead to breakdowns

The Tracerline® Marksman™ II ultrasonic diagnostic tool is a highly accurate instrument that converts and amplifies inaudible ultrasonic sound into audible “natural” sound. Service technicians can now easily hear sounds that signify problems such as air brake leaks, compressed air leaks, vacuum leaks, tire leaks and much more, before they lead to major breakdowns.

The Marksman II uses a two-tiered approach to ensure accurate diagnosis. The ultrasonic receiver converts inaudible sound into audible sound using heterodyne circuitry. Then, its unique Sound Signature Technology fine-tunes the audible sound into the natural sound emitted by the leak itself. A five-LED signal-intensity indicator and audible alarm easily pinpoint the exact problem source.TracerlineWestbury, NY

INIT launches vehicle health solution MOBILE-ECO2V

INIT announced the launch of MOBILE-ECO2, a vehicle health and driver behavior management system that improves the “ECOnomy and ECOlogy” of public transit. MOBILE-ECO2 addresses two main requirements facing today’s public transit environment: State of Good Repair and Vehicle Economy. The MOBILE-ECO2 system monitors vehicle performance through the J1939 data network, analyzes driver behavior, discovers trends, and delivers real-time vehicle alerts. Using comprehensive dashboards and reports, MOBILE-ECO2 reveals important vehicle trends - and future issues - before they become expensive repairs. It also alerts maintenance staff, in real time, of vehicle issues that require immediate attention.INIT Innovations in Transportation, Inc.Chesapeake, VA

Rotary Lift declares war on rust

With the introduction of the MOD35 modular heavy-duty in-ground lift series, Rotary Lift has added several weapons to its corrosion-fighting arsenal: nitriding, electrocoating and zinc/aluminum coating. The result is a lift that is even more durable than its predecessor, the MOD30 environmentally friendly heavy-duty in-ground lift. The modular design of the MOD35 inground lift enables it to be customized for any application and location. It is available with two (MOD235) or three (MOD335) multi-stage hydraulic cylinders to provide lifting capacity of 70,000 to 105,000 pounds.Rotary LiftMadison, IN


Industry-wide, depending on the company, the size of the fleet and available space, most in-house facilities focus primarily on inspections, preventive maintenance, first level repair and parts replacement, as well as light to moderate rebuilding.

“Repair work is not necessarily minor, but at this level it is generally handled in a routine fashion with minimal downtime,” says ABC Companies’ David Beagle, vice president of Service Operations. “For the more extensive repairs and rebuilds, such as engines and transmissions and body work, our customers rely on our Service Centers with the expertise and required certifications. Our Service Centers are specially equipped with the tools, personnel and equipment necessary to do the work.”

While ABC Companies can typically accommodate smaller-

Determined by the degree of wear and damage, coach repairs conducted at the 10 ABC Companies Service Centers throughout the country range from general maintenance and common repairs and rebuilds to complete refurbishments. These maintenance echelons are:

Repair — the repair of a coach on an as-needed component basisRebuild — the rebuilding of a coach on an as-needed component basisSelective Refurbish — the replacement of system-wide wear components in multiple systems to achieve a significantly longer functional lifeComplete Refurbish — the replacement of all wear components in all systems to extend the functional life of the total coach

scale refurbishing projects in its Service Centers, the company conducts its heavy-duty refurbishing, as well as serious collision repair, at its locations in Faribault, MN; Winter Garden, FL; and Nappanee, IN.

In the upper range, refurbishing involves more complex processes that enhance and rejuvenate existing equipment with the benefit of renewed curb appeal, updated passenger comfort and extended life cycles.

Most recently, at the Nappanee facility, ABC Companies completed the refurbishing of over 650 coaches for a national line haul operator, as well as several groups of 50 or more coaches for other operators.

For work of this scale, ABC Companies made a substantial investment in heavy-duty equipment that is not found in most bus maintenance facilities.

In addition to eight four-post bus lifts, the refurb and collision repair areas house two-ton rolling overhead cranes (one for lifting engines and one for lifting glass windshields and side glass) and an eight-post Gold Medallion 50-ton frame pulling machine, as well as Kansas Jack frame-pulling power post machines.

ABC Companies ensures an environmentally friendly workplace with the use of EPA-approved industrial wastewater collection, a hold and haul facility, and Van Steenburgh refrigerant recovery and recycling machines.

For exterior paint and graphics, the body shop employs two 60-foot downdraft and one 60-foot end draft heated/bake paint spray booths with scaffolding systems. A graphics printer for

Maintenance finds its own levelsABC Companies Service Centers repair, rebuild and refurbish according to maintenance needs

By David Hubbard

Coach repairs conducted at the 10 ABC Companies Service Centers throughout the country range from general maintenance and common repairs and rebuilds to complete refurbishments.


Above: ABC Companies says a complete refurbishment that includes engine and transmission replacement is a project only a few companies undertake.

Above left: Refurbishing involves complex processes that enhance and rejuvenate existing equipment with the benefit of renewed curb appeal, updated passenger comfort and extended life cycles.

3M products, UV laminator and graphics cutter accommodates anything from small digital graphics to full coach wraps. Cleanup is EPA-approved by a Safety-Kleen paint waster-reducing spray gun cleaner/waste baker.

THE R-STANDARD

The company initiated its refurbishment program in 2010 with a very clear-cut idea for what would signify a fully Complete Refurbish bus. The letter “R” would denote the standard level of refurbishment to an exemplary condition.

“In each of these cases, the customer determined the coaches could still meet the needs of the company and could be completely refurbished to the level where the cost per mile would be similar to a new coach,” says ABC Companies’ Senior Vice President Lee Loper. “We also have been cost effective in refurbishing smaller groups of coaches two or three at a time.”

However, he says the cost per coach is higher than the large-scale refurbish contracts.

“When we began our refurbishment program, we listed everything we thought should be included in a fully refurbished coach,” says ABC Companies National Director of Operations Ed Harmon. “What we ultimately ended up with was a product priced a little out of reach for some customers, while others felt they didn’t need all the options we believed necessary to merit the ‘R’ rating.”

ABC Companies says it came to realize the market would not necessarily support the R-Standard as it would have liked, discovering instead the operators’ preferences for partial or selective refurbs to bring their older coaches as close as possible to new and on budget.

Harmon says while ABC Companies found it necessary to establish the criteria for an R-standard coach, it has also listened and adopted more of a “pick-and-choose” approach that falls in line with what customers can afford.

“The decision to repair, rebuild or refurbish a piece of equipment is less about the definitions and more about understanding when to take serious maintenance issues to the next stage,” Harmon says. “It is easy to slip into a cycle of frequent and repetitious repairs that seemingly never end. They

nickel-and-dime the company to the point of exhaustion, when in fact the time has come for a complete refurb.”

According to ABC Companies, a complete refurbishment that includes engine and transmission replacement is a project only a few companies undertake.

“In a selective refurbishment project, we can fill out the menu of options or dial it back as needed,” Beagle says. “But for a complete refurbishment, our definition must include sending the engine and transmission out for refurbishment to new specs.”

Harmon says the challenge is to work with operators on what they really need based on the inspection of their vehicles, regardless of what they originally asked for when they brought the coach to ABC Companies.

When done properly, a refurbishment adds years of productive service. The process begins with a meticulous inspection to determine the parts and components that need repair or replacing, with ABC noting their present condition and the costs involved. The work begins with updated front and rear cap replacements and reupholstered seats.

“A selective refurb is typically more cosmetic than mechanical,” Harmon says. “But if the coach is really tired, yet the customer wants to hang on to it a little longer, the company is more than likely looking at a complete refurb.”

“Budget-minded operators first view a refurbishment project as a way to improve the curb appeal of their older coaches and give customers the impression of a newer model,” Harmon adds. “If the operator thinks this piece of equipment could help portray the branding and the image the company wants, a refurb is a wise and cost-effective decision.”

A refurb features a vast menu of options that may range from new exterior paint and interior treatments to a heavy-duty repower that involves a completely different model engine and transmission.


“Regardless of what we call it, a selective refurb or a complete refurb, customers usually come to us with a certain result in mind,” Harmon says. “In cases where we discover hidden damage, they must decide if they want to take that coach to that next level of maintenance.”

CORROSION CAN BE A DEAL BREAKER

“The overall condition of the shell determines the feasibility of refurbishing the vehicle,” says Greg Dotseth, operations manager for ABC Companies’ Faribault Service Center. “A customer brought a coach into our Minnesota facility for a light refurb. As we were inspecting the coach, we found rust and corrosion to the point where the job instead called for a complete refurbishment. So we went back in and rebuilt the entire shell.”

Dotseth says ABC Companies technicians can replace as much of the metal shell as needed, as long as the coach meets the specs.

“When we refurbish a coach to spec, we first work to descale as much corrosion as possible,” Dotseth says. “We use meters that gauge the thickness of the metal and the depth of the corrosion, and determine the percentage of how much metal to replace. We replace the seal around the windows and tighten the floorboard, all of which adds to the original integrity of the vehicle and extends its useful life.”

Loper addressed plenty of corrosion issues on the project in the Nappanee facility.

“This is one area that can get both us and the customer into trouble,” he says. “It is a very expensive process, and the tendency is to continue to sink money into corrosion repairs.”

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Loper says the best solutions in these complex maintenance areas come down to the operators’ financial status and the requirements of the customers they serve.

“ABC Financial Services works directly with our customers on matters of financing to analyze if the refurbished or complete-refurbished coach will meet their needs,” he says. “One thing that helps is that finance and insurance companies know that the upgrades are completed through a reputable maintenance and repair facility qualified to do the work. The financial department is key in making this program available. We help our customers understand how to finance the work to be done, and we make it happen.”

Before ABC Companies initiated its R-Standard program, Loper spoke with Lancer and National Interstate insurance companies to determine if this service was insurable at a reasonable price.

“Both companies understand the process and the importance of a reliable company doing the work,” he says. “This allows them to insure refurbished coaches for higher amounts.”

As for warranty, Beagle says while a new coach with a Detroit D13 engine comes with a two-year warranty, the reman engine also carries a two-year warranty, which is available on selective components (but excludes an extended warranty).

There are motorcoach companies that say because their customers request only coaches that are three years old or newer, they have to keep renewing the fleet so as to remain in step with their customer’s needs.

“Not every bus in the fleet can be a new bus,” Loper says. “The economics of the industry simply do not justify complete fleet replacements over a short time. A refurb is a viable option for freshening the fleet without incurring as much debt.”

At left: Gold Medallion frame straightening machine

ABC Companies Service Centers feature eight four-post bus lifts, a substantial investment in heavy-duty equipment.

A refurb features a vast menu of options that may range from new exterior paint and interior treatments to a heavy-duty repower that involves a completely different model engine and transmission.


The Automotive Lift Institute is a nationally accredited standards development organization.

Automotive Lift Institute answers FAQs on certificationManufacturers association promotes safe use of automotive lifts

The Automotive Lift Institute (ALI), a nationally accredited standards development organization, is an association comprised of responsible automotive lifts manufacturers that advances the cause of automotive lift safety in the service and repair industry. ALI develops requirements for consideration as national standards by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Its efforts includes offering an internationally accredited product certification program to promote the safe design, construction, installation, service, and use of automotive lifts. ALI has put out a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on certification for purchasers to better evaluate claims and make informed decisions about lift products. It reads in part:

What is product certification?

Certification by an independent, third party organization determines that a manufacturer has the ability to produce a product that complies with a specific set of standards. The program is audited quarterly to ensure continued compliance with the applicable standards.

What Standards Apply to Automotive Lifts?

ANSI/ALI ALCTV American National Standard for Automotive Lifts – Safety Requirements for Construction, Testing and Validation is the only current standard in North America that governs the design and construction of automotive lifts. This Standard addresses the U.S. electrical requirements associated with an automotive lift by incorporating compliance and third-party listing to ANSI UL 201. Automotive lifts that do not bear a certification label are not certified and are not likely to comply with the requirements of the local code authority having jurisdiction or new construction pre-start audit requirements.

Should my lift be inspected?

An automotive lift should be inspected at least annually or in accordance with manufacturer specifications.

Is my lift certified if I see a UL or ETL listing mark only on the power unit?

A third-party certification label representing the automotive lift as a complete product must clearly bear the Automotive Lift mark along with a reference to the American National

Standard ANSI/ALI ALCTV. The claim of a certified lift by some lift marketers and resellers is false and misleading when the automotive lift only bears a third-party mark located on the power unit or another component such as the motor without these references.

The lift consumer should recognize that without these references the automotive lift is not certified and the product has not been found compliant for electrical and mechanical safety requirements.

What does “Certification Pending” mean?

The claim or promise of “certification pending” appears to be one of the latest trends by some lift

marketers and resellers hopeful of winning a lift purchaser’s business. Technically

speaking, simply entering into a discussion with even an internal engineer can lead to the less-than-ethical stated promise of “Certification Pending.” Although this may look harmless, the lift consumer should recognize the automotive lift is NOT

certified.

Will I lose certification using replacement parts?

Replace worn, damaged or broken parts with parts approved by the original equipment manufacturer or with parts meeting the original manufacturer specifications.

What is CE?

Claims that lifts are CE (European Community) approved can mislead prospective North American lift purchasers. The CE lift standard is not tougher, as some might claim, but simply different than the American National Standard. One of the most notable differences between CE and ALI certification is in the area of electrical safety. ANSI/ALI ALCTV mandates listing and labeling to UL201, the Standard for Safety for Garage Equipment. CE electrical requirements are different and do not ensure compliance with the National Electric Code (NEC). Building inspectors do not accept CE in North America and will red tag lifts not listed to North American standards.

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