Heavy Duty Trucking, August 2018

AFTERMARKET INSIGHT HDT AUGUST 2018 36 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM Denise L Rondini Aftermarket Contributing Editor drondini@ truckinginfo com any fleet mangers will not be surprised by recent statistics showing that roadside breakdowns were up 21 in the first quarter of this year compared with the last quarter of 2017 According to the Truckload Vertical Benchmarking Study conducted by the American Trucking Associations Technology Maintenance Council and FleetNet America truckload fleets that participated in the survey had a breakdown every 9136 miles and best in class fleets had breakdowns every 33809 miles Tires lighting brakes exhaust systems and wheels rims hubs bearings accounted for 58 of all repairs in the first quarter of this year Understanding what fails on the side of the road is a great way to understand a maintenance operation says Jim Buell executive vice president of sales and marketing for FleetNet America which provides fleet breakdown repair and maintenance services He adds that while some unscheduled roadside repairs are inevitable such as tire failure after running over debris fleets need to give some thought to what is failing en route and really consider if the failure could have been prevented That is one of the great things about a study that benchmarks similar fleets If a fleet is an outlier in one VMRS system it may be a very good indication that this is an area they can improve bringing down total maintenance expense he says VMRS is the TMC developed Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards a structured coding system that makes tracking and analyzing maintenance and repairs easier The point that jumped out at me was the spread between miles repair for the best in class fleet compared to the vertical average Buell says The top performing fleets ran 37 times longer between roadside events than the average fleet Except for tires a best in class fleet was four to 13 times better than the average in the remaining five top VMRS systems If one fleet can run 12 million miles between an exhaust system repair when the industry is only running 139000 miles why shouldnt all fleets get closer to the 12 million mile mark As an industry we need to challenge ourselves to move everyone closer to the best in class mark he says To find out what best in class fleets were doing differently Buell called them to talk about each of the top five systems in the study In each case after giving it some thought the maintenance leader was able to point to a practice they implemented which they felt drove their superior results For example three practices that helped reduce roadside lighting repairs were extra training making sure butt connectors were heat shrunk during PMs and providing drivers with goody bags of replacement bulbs so they can make that repair themselves With exhaust systems one fleet told Buell it had invested in personnel to monitor fault lights and make careful assessments if the repair was needed immediately or could be deferred Theres a different best in class story behind each VMRS system which is why I believe the best in class meeting at this falls TMC meeting will be so very interesting Buell says Fleets that are participating in the benchmarking program will be able to hear firsthand from the individual fleets that are best in class in each system To help reduce breakdowns fleets first need data he says Every fleet needs to understand the miles they are running between breakdowns and repairs know where theyre best in class so they dont inadvertently change something thats working for them and identify where they can make improvements that will give their company the best return on their maintenance teams time Learn from best in class fleets Denise Rondini offers information and insight to help fleet managers make smart parts and service choices A highly respected freelance writer in the transportation industry she has covered the aftermarket and dealer parts and service issues since 1982 and now covers those areas exclusively for Heavy Duty Trucking and Truckinginfo com She can be reached at drondini@ truckinginfo com or 773 951 8563 M Understanding what fails on the side of the road is a great way to understand a maintenance operation