The Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) recently awarded the 100th Certified VMRS Certified Specialist accreditation to Misty Hansley, manager of billing workflow for FleetNet America, Cherryville, N.C. She received her certification following successful completion of VMRS (Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards) certification.
Hansley, who oversees the company’s billing and workflow department, codes FleetNet invoices using TMC’s VMRS, allowing reports to be segmented per vehicle for cost analysis and preventive measures.
“VMRS has been an important tool for successful fleet operation for more than 40 years, and now users can receive acknowledgement of their skills,” says Carl Kirk, vice president of maintenance, information technology and logistics, of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and executive director of TMC. “The Certified VMRS Specialist Program will help broaden the scope and importance of VMRS to the maintenance community.
“Using VMRS, maintenance and equipment professionals can easily track equipment performance individually, by shop, fleet or between fleets,” he notes. “It provides a consistent means of measuring performance, tracking parts usage and providing warranty service for fleets, service providers, dealers and equipment manufacturers.”
INDUSTRY STANDARD
VMRS is the industry standard that allows everyone in a maintenance event to have an understanding of what occurred during a repair, plus it eliminates the need for extensive written communication. Using VMRS correctly allows an organization to get the most value from its maintenance and repair investment.
VMRS plays a key role in helping equipment managers make business decisions regarding such matters as parts inventory levels and costs, technician productivity, etc. VMRS provides accurate data at any level in an organization, making for sound reporting and better communications throughout the entire organization.
BENEFITS
Benefits of the Certified VMRS Specialist Program include:
- Providing current VMRS users a means of demonstrating their expertise and proficiency.
- Encouraging others to increase their knowledge and use of VMRS.
- Highlighting the importance of VMRS to employers.
- Encouraging employees to continue development of their VMRS knowledge.
CERTIFICATION PROCESS
The certification testing consists of 15 multiple choice questions – ranging in difficulty and covering a broad spectrum of VMRS – and one essay question to assess an applicant’s hands-on use of VMRS. An applicant must obtain a passing grade of 80 percent to qualify for certification status.
The certification testing costs $100 for ATA/TMC members; $125 for non-members.
TMC inaugurated the Certified VMRS Specialist program in January 2014, and there are now Certified VMRS Specialsts representing every segment of the trucking industry.
To learn more about the program, contact me at 703-838-7928 or at [email protected].
Jack Poster is the VMRS services manager for TMC (tmc.trucking.org), North America’s premier technical society for truck equipment technology and maintenance professionals. As such, he is the caretaker of the VMRS coding convention, working with fleets, OEMs, software firms and all users of VMRS to ensure the integrity of the codes.
