“Maintenance violations are the 800-lb gorilla in CSA,” remarked Steve Bryan, CEO and founder of Vigillo (https://vigillo.com), a data mining company focused on the transportation industry and CSA in particular, during a recent webinar sponsored by Decisiv (www.decisiv.com), a provider of Service Relationship Management (SRM) solutions for commercial assets. “Data on more than seven million CSA inspections over the past 24 months shows that of the 12.6 million violations, an overwhelming number – 80.28 percent – are in the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC category.”
Within the CSA, FMCSA uses it Safety Measurement System (SMS) Methodology to quantify the on-road safety performance of motor carriers in seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs): Vehicle Maintenance, Unsafe Driving, Hours of Service Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Hazardous Materials Compliance and Crash Indicator. This includes data from roadside inspections, all safety-based violations and state-reported crash data.
Bryan identified some specific maintenance items and the percentage of violations they account for in the CSA’s Vehicle Maintenance BASIC: lighting, 28.15 percent; brakes, 20.13 percent; and tires 10.46 percent.
MORE UPTIME
During the webinar, Meeting the Uptime Challenge, Michael Riemer, Decisiv’s vice president, product and channel marketing, noted how SRM technology can help reduce downtime. He said it does this by automating electronic inspection processes and integrating telematics and remote diagnostics systems into a closed-loop system that helps ensure “frictionless access” to estimate, invoice and repair data through the elimination of separate silos of information, multiple portals and manual data entry.
Webinar participant Pete Nativo, director of maintenance at Oakley Transport (www.oakleytransport.com) – a liquid and dry bulk food grade transportation services provider with more than 500 tractors and 750 tank trailers, said implementation of Decisiv’s SRM platform “drives uptime in our fleet operation.” Oakley uses the SRM technology with dealers, the Volvo Trucks Uptime Center, Ryder and other outside service providers to manage about 200 external repair orders per month.
He said, “in a single system it provides a complete audit trail and reduces paper forms and manual documentation; keeps phone lines open for drivers because it enables us to spend as much as 50 percent less time on the phone to get status updates on trucks that are in service provider shops; improves PM accuracy; and reduces regulatory fines.
“Overall, the Decisiv platform is helping us realize a 10 percent improvement in asset utilization by reducing downtime for service and repair events.”
TELEMATICS EXPLOSION
There is an explosion of telematics usage taking place and these systems can help reduce vehicle maintenance issues, said Kelly Frey, vice president, product marketing, Telogis (www.telogis.com), a provider of cloud-based connected intelligence software platforms, who also participated in the webinar. “Over the next few years, the stakes are high for adoption of systems that integrate real-time engine data and inspection defect notifications, and alerts for critical faults from a range of sensors.
“We have the opportunity today to connect vehicles, equipment, mobile workers and fleets and create a truly connected ecosystem,” he stated. “Including the management of service events, this technology revolution will turn data into actionable information and big data into deep data, and that will lead to more efficiency and productivity, reduced downtime and maximized uptime.”
