DEC.2013
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Fall safely,
recover quicklyp 4
Parts and Parts Distribution Roundtable p 6
Letter From The Industry
Note to maintenance: Make it their shop, not yours The most productive management philosophy is the one that allows capable employees to do their work and accomplish their goals. The best managers know how to stay out of their way. Easier said than done, but it bodes well for the maintenance team at the Ft. Worth Transit Authority, The T. Most of our technicians began at the lowest rung and worked up to their present positions. This has allowed me time to get to know each of my employees and to observe and learn how they work. With this better understanding of my team, I have been able to put these four practices into place to ensure each employee works to his strengths and functions as a team member. I continually see positive results from these four simple steps. • Establish and reinforce the overall safety and maintenance philosophy. • Provide best practices training and guidance o for each maintenance procedure. This helps keep each member of the maintenance team engaged and involved. • Evaluate each problem as it occurs, from preventive measures to breakdowns. Engage the technicians in discussing what they found and how they diagnosed the problem. • Invite each team member to become involved in everything going on in the shop. This instills their sense of ownership in our maintenance philosophy and processes in what will essentially become their shop and their system. Ron Anderson Director of Maintenance Fort Worth Transit Authority, “The T” Fort Worth, TX
Vol. 03 • No. 12 Publisher / Editor in Chief Steve Kane steve@busride.com Associate Publisher Sali T. Williams swilliams@busride.com Editor David Hubbard david@busride.com Managing Editor Richard Tackett rtackett@busride.com Art Director Stephen Gamble sgamble@theproducersinc.com Production Coordinator Kevin Dixon kdixon@busride.com Accountant Fred Valdez fvaldez@powertrademedia.com
BUS industry SAFETY council
DECEMBER 2013
CONTENTS
Fall safely, recover quickly Fall protection systems save life, limb and litigation
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By David Hubbard
A publication of:
Parts and Parts Distribution Roundtable Continued from last issue: BUSRide Maintenance hosted industry professionals for a roundtable discussion at BusCon 2013 By Richard Tackett
6 DEPARTMENTS
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BUSRIDE MAINTENANCE | DECEM B ER . 2013
Letter from the Industry
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Fall safely, recover quickly By David Hubbard
Fall protection systems save life, limb and litigation
“Watch your step!”
“Don’t fall and kill yourself!” “You be careful up there!” T
hese typical commands that techs might hear while working atop buses and coaches could just as easily signal company owners to quit the yelling and reevaluate their fall protection systems. Aside from the fact that fall protection is law, no one wants workers injured in a slip, trip or fall, especially from significant heights. Anyone in any industry working a minimum of four feet off the ground must use a fall protection system. The OSHA Fall Protection Code stipulates that fall protection equipment be provided for workers engaged in elevated activity at a minimum of four feet above the floor. OSHA also requires some sort of self-rescue capability or a way to promptly rescue a worker who has fallen.
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BUSRIDE MAINTENANCE | DECEM B ER . 2013
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While OSHA specifies the allowable fall protection options, the fall protection industry finds the laws a bit vague and out of date with recent developments in equipment and technology. “A system may be compliant under the law, but it may not necessarily protect workers as best it should,” says Michael Evanko, president of Rigid Lifelines. Maintenance directors may find the ANSI Minimum Requirements for a Comprehensive Managed Fall Protection Program more beneficial. “Fall protection for a bus maintenance facility is a fairly straightforward application,” Evanko says. “The vehicles are in a straight line with limited walking space. It is not that difficult to come up with a solid solution.” These four fall protection providers offer their versions of conventional rigid rail systems that attach to the ceiling of an existing facility for bus and coach maintenance applications. Though each company offers proprietary features, the basic system consists of a ceiling-mounted rigid track steel track. Each worker wears a harness with a self-retractable lifeline (SLR) connected to a rolling trolley. If the worker slips, the trolley grips down on the track and locks to prevent further drift, and the selfretracting lifeline engages immediately and arrests the fall. The principle of SLR fall protection is to shorten the distance and slow the speed of a fall, eliminating any forces on the body from impact and sudden stop that occurs with a non-retractable tether at the end of a fall. Typically, the worker is able to simply step back on the roof of the bus. The tracks are substantial, robust and do not need to be replaced after a fall. Rigid Lifelines Rigid Lifelines, Morgantown, PA, a division of SPANCO, manufactures single-track and dual-track systems as standard products, with custom-built three-track systems available. The company says it can install one to three tracks side-by-side to allow free movement for each worker. “All our products initially accommodate four men on one track or dual tracks,” Evanko says. “We have done as many as six different tracks side-by-side in one system. We can also engineer a system that accommodates more than one worker on a single track. They just won’t be able to pass.” Fall Protection Systems (FPS) Fall Protection Systems (FPS) designs and installs fall protection systems for maintenance on a variety of transportation vehicles. The company says its signature turnkey solutions set FPS apart. “We include every necessary component and service,” says FPS Senior Sales Manager Matthew Proctor. “Our process begins with an onsite visit to the facility where we do a site analysis and diagnose the client’s fall protection needs.” The analysis considers the types and sizes of vehicles and the number of workers who will be using the system. FPS says its custom trolley-rail system fits into and around all features within an existing structure, leaving previously installed heaters, condensation pipes, ductwork and sprinkler systems in place. “We take on all the liability and responsibility,” Proctor says. “We will never take on the liability of customers wanting
to design their own system, and only our crews handle the installation.” Miller by Honeywell Honeywell Safety Products entered the business of fall protection eight years ago when the company inherited Miller Fall Protection in its purchase of North Safety. Miller designs and manufactures fall protection for applications in all major industries. Honeywell Safety Products is now out with its Miller SkyORB overhead rotational boom anchor, which is applicable for workers atop transit buses and coaches. The company says its new product incorporates the ABCs of fall protection systems of any kind — anchor point; body harness; and connecting point. The SkyORB features a 20-foot telescoping mast and a boom that rotates 360 degress above the workers head. The Miller anchorage point features a patented shock absorber that protects the structure by reducing the forces with a coil that unravels. “Over several years of research, we saw the mobile systems available at the time as being heavy and bulky,” says Rick Loomis, sales manager, Miller Fall Protection. “Most of the mobile fall protection systems available today weigh over 7,000 pounds because of the heavy counterweight they require. Our product comes in at 1,000 pounds — seven times lighter than anything on the market.” The Miller mobile system employs a heavy-duty vehicle as the counterweight, as opposed to a large and cumbersome concrete block. The vehicle drives onto the plate and anchors the structure. Loomis says the average shop forklift can easily move the mobile system to the work. In developing this product, Miller says it targeted companies relying on lesser, non-compliant fall protection methods. Gorbel Gorbel, Fishers, NY, has provided fall protection since 1977. Its proprietary product, the Gorbel Tether Track™ Fall Arrest System, features an enclosed rigid-rail track suspended from a ceiling or support structure. The harness and lanyard attach to the trolley that travels inside the track, giving workers ample linear movement. The Tether Track can be custom built and installed in different configurations to accommodate a variety of applications. For example, a bridge connecting two horizontal tracks provides a rectangular work area above a work surface. Gorbel Product Manager Kevin Duhamel says its design of the enclosed track sets his company’s products apart. “It provides several advantages over an exposed track,” Duhamel says. “Being enclosed, the track provides a smooth surface for the trolley to travel. It’s protected from dust, dirt and grime that can catch in the wheels and bearings of an open track and cause the trolley to pull harder. Attached to the trolley, workers feel very little resistance as they move along the vehicle. It allows them to just get the job done and not think about the fall protection system.” With a maximum fall distance of two feet, this type of system clearly minimizes injury by allowing the worker to easily step back to the roof of the vehicle and not be left hanging and dangling.
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BUSRIDE MAINTENANCE
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
Parts and Parts Distribution Continuing from last issue, industry leaders from Cummins, MCI, Prevost and Vanner offer their thoughts on the state of parts distribution By Richard Tackett
D
uring BusCon 2013, held September 9-11 in Chicago, IL, leaders from the transportation industry met with BUSRide Maintenance in an informal setting to respond to questions and share perspectives on parts and parts distribution. Our guests were representatives from Cummins, Prevost, Vanner, Motor Coach Industries (MCI) and ABC Companies. With all of the changes, both economic and technological, affecting the parts industry today, how are the roles of your sales and field representatives changing? Gary Hodgson – Regional Sales Manager – Prevost: We do a lot of training for field sales and part sales. All of our reps have over ten years of experience in the market and in the industry, and through all of the changes they still have to be able to go and talk to our customers about their needs. We provide them with trends that they may see in the field. We do a lot of training of the internal staff, service staff and parts salespeople. Likewise, we do training for the customers and
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try to keep everyone up to speed on the latest and greatest. Darrin Thorpe – Technical Solutions Manager – MCI: We have customer orientation with our salespeople at MCI every time a new bus comes out. They have to know exactly what the bus can do and how to control it. We physically show them, step-by-step, how the entire vehicle works. It makes it so much easier because there are a lot of new bells and whistles that drivers and owners just aren’t used to. We have to train our guys and then train the customer. Going a step further, we invite customers and mechanics every month to our Louisville facility to have a maintenance roundtable. Further training for them is key. John Hughes – Manager, North American National Accounts, New and ReCon Parts – Cummins Inc.: I think it even gets down to driver training. The driver, the maintenance folks, and the entire channel have to be trained and very knowledgeable about their vehicles.
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Chris Collet – VP Bus and Hybrid Markets – Vanner: The worst thing that can happen to an operator is getting a vehicle and finding that troubleshooting the service outlet is burning up labor hours because it doesn’t have the proper software. An operator might invest 20 hours diagnosing a problem and not gain anything, but it would take no time at all if he had a little bit of training or the proper software. How are your parts operations contributing to longer lasting vehicles and safer transport? Collet: We talked a bit about broadcasting information, and that’s a big thing right now. People want us to broadcast data so that they can turn it into useful information. We’re seeing more mid-life overhauls, and that gives owners an opportunity to improve on their vehicles. There’s a large transit operation on the East Coast that, when doing mid-life overhauls, replaces many parts with Vanner parts. That’s because our parts are broadcasting information. Now the customer has tangible data and information they can use for their business. We’re seeing a lot more information broadcasting, and we’re seeing a lot of equipment installed at mid-life to extend the useful life of the vehicle.
dollars on the front-end by going to a third-party vendor, but what happens down the road when the engine fails and a coach full of passengers is out of commission? Have you really saved anything, and what value have you brought to your customer? If a part fails because it’s non-genuine or lower quality, the total cost is significant. Thorpe: With genuine parts, it’s a comfort level for the customers. I personally would buy genuine parts for my engine, and the same for a coach application. When it comes to a body panel, tire or wheel, you might shop around. When it comes to the important stuff like engines, suspensions and frames, OE is the way to go. Hodgson: I think a lot of customers are very careful about what parts to replace, especially, with critical components and a vehicle that’s under warranty. At Prevost we train people to be able to recognize a genuine Bendix valve and the materials that they use, rather than the alternates that are cheaper but use different materials and are less durable. With safety-critical parts of the bus, I think all of the OEMs are trying to make sure customers stay with the genuine article.
What kinds of components and parts are customers seeking from OEMs, and what items are they seeking from third-party vendors? What dictates their decision? Hughes: It varies between high-volume parts and low-volume parts. A high-volume part, in theory, is readily available with lots of suppliers. There are a lot of competitive offerings out there, especially when you’re getting into remanufactured parts. It depends on the market and product, but customers typically stay more genuine with high-dollar items like electronics. There’s much less availability on the open-market of an electronic component or a VGturbocharger. We see a lot of competitors in O-rings, gasket seals, water pumps and other less expensive components. When you look at high-volume mid-range engines… Well, a vendor might see that with only a percentage of Cummins sales, they can capture a niche market. We’re seeing a lot of non-genuine and/ or counterfeit products coming out of the Far East on a regular basis. We do our best to educate the customer about the genuine product’s value. You might save a few
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT ‌when they need to access the tops of these vehicles for routine maintenance and repairs. Bus and motorcoach rooftops are particularly hazardous because of their height – and because of slippery surfaces that result in poor traction. Since workers are accessing an area that poses a high risk for potential fall fatalities, fall protection should be used. The Rigid LifelinesŽ Ceiling Mounted Monorail is the ideal solution for protecting people working on the tops of buses. The narrow profile of the Ceiling Mounted Monorail allows this system to fit in virtually any location without wasting valuable workspace. High-grade steel comfortably supports workers up to 400 pounds, ensuring the ultimate security while at height. Depending upon how many workers need protection, the Ceiling Mounted Monorail is available in single, double, and multiple track configurations. The system design can be installed at virtually any length and it can easily navigate curves. By using this style of fall protection system, workers have continual overhead coverage that dramatically reduces the likelihood of swing falls. All Rigid Lifelines systems use a specialized enclosed design that protects the trolley from the debris that can accumulate in the workplace. For added convenience, every Rigid Lifelines fall protection system is bolttogether and requires no additional welding for assembly. To learn more about Ceiling Mounted Monorails and how they can help your workers, call a Rigid Lifelines technical sales representative today! Or, send your inquiry to: info@rigidlifelines.com.
Workers in bus and motorcoach garages face many dangers