2015 Bus Maintenance Survey: Issues with Engine Technology, Staffing Are Growing Trends One hundred percent of respondents say filters are the parts they buy most often, while both diesel and alternative-fueled vehicle usage is growing, compared to last year. Lane Transit District By Alex Roman, Managing Editor While diesel usage is up at transit agencies, so is the amount of alternative-fueled vehicles, according to respondents to this year’s METRO Bus Maintenance Survey. Overall, 92% of respondents report using diesel — up 15 percentage points from last year — with hybrid vehicles (53%) being the top choice of alterna- 12 < mETRO mAGAZINE May 2015 tive fuels, followed by biodiesel and natural gas, which are tied at 28%. Gasoline, a new selection for this year’s respondents, came in at 53%. Electrical (issues/training) remains the biggest issue in shops, followed this year by exhaust gas recirculation systems and staffing, each jumping 2014’s No.2 issue engines/transmissions, which comes in this year at No. 4. Onehundred percent of this year’s respondents reported filters as the parts they buy the most. When asked what questions an agency should ask when exploring the possibility of adding alternatively propelled vehicles, the top answers were “How much training will be necessary and metro-magazine.com who will deliver that training? “What are the true costs associated with implementation?” “What is the true cost per mile to operate?” and “What is the expected timeframe until true return on your investment is realized?” METRO sent out its survey to hundreds of maintenance shops, spanning a wide demographic consisting of large metropolitan to small and rural transit agencies as well as university-focused systems. Questions covered topics ranging from fleet size to average age of their fleet, hours-of-training-provided per year and how that training is delivered, and the top issues in their shops to what parts they buy most often. Agencies varied in fleet size, with the largest maintaining 2,200 buses and the smallest 27, with the mean boasting a fleet of 288 buses. The Ride Electrical (issues/training) remains the biggest issue in shops, followed by exhaust gas recirculation systems and staffing, which each jumped 2014’s No. 2 issue engines/ transmissions. Top Issues/Parts What are the top 10 biggest issues in the shop? 1 Electrical (issues/training) Top 5 Parts you buy the most of? 1. Filters 2 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Systems 3 Staffing 4 Engines/Transmissions 2. Fluids 5 Training Tech equipment (fareboxes, GPS, 6 destination signs, etc.) 7 Parts 3. Brakes 4. Tires 8 HVAC Systems 9 Brakes (changes/failures) 10 Leaks Electrical issues/warnings continue to be the top issue faced in the maintenance shop, followed by exhaust gas recirculation systems and staffing. Engines/transmissions dips from No. 2 last year to No. 4 this year, with parts also jumping up two spots from 2014 to No. 7. 5. Batteries One hundred percent of this year’s respondents say they purchase filters the most. The rest of this year’s list remains about the same as 2014, with lights falling out of the top five. May 2015 mETRO mAGAZINE > 13 2015 Bus Maintenance Survey The Fleets Size of Fleet 49 vehicles or less 50-99 100-300 301 or more This year’s respondents varied in fleet size, with the largest maintaining 2,200 buses and the smallest 27. Type of propulsion The average fleet size was 288 vehicles, just a bit more than last year’s 285 vehicle average. The largest amount reported was 2,200, with 27 vehicles the least amount reported. 100% 80% What is the average age of your fleet? 60% Today Five years ago 40% 7.3 7.7 20% years 92% 57% 53% 28% 28% 10% 7% El ec tri c Pr op an e H yb rid The average age of fleets continue to go down over the last five years, with the oldest fleet today reported to be 12 years compared with 16 years just five years ago. Today’s youngest fleet is 3.5 years, with the youngest fleet five years ago 2.2 years old. G as ol in e Bi od ie se N l at ur al G as 0% Di es el years METRO asked what type of propulsion mechanics are seeing the most in their shops, with diesel again topping the list followed by hybrid and gasoline — a new choice for respondents this year. Diesel jumped 15 percentage points from 2014, with electric — another new choice in 2015 — coming in at 10%. What are the average miles you run your vehicles annually? 30,000 or less . . . 45,000 or less . . . 60,000 or less . . . 11% 43% 39% 7% Tri-Delta 60,001 or more . . . . . Seventy-five percent of respondents report they do in fact hire from within — a slight decrease from 2014. 14 < mETRO mAGAZINE May 2015 More than 40% of this year’s respondents run their vehicles 45,000 miles or less, annually, breaking a tie from last year with over 60,000 miles. Very few agencies continue to run their buses more than 60,001 miles, with the number shrinking by two percentage points compared with 2014’s responses. metro-magazine.com CATA 15% 32% 28% 25% 2015 Bus Maintenance Survey In The Shop How many full-time mechanics do you have on staff? How many hours do you budget for mechanic training per person? 36% 20 or less . . . . . . . 25% 40 or less . . . . . . . 21% 41 to 80 . . . . . . . . . 7% 81 or more . . . . . . 11% Not budgeted . . . . 78% 80 or less . . . . . . . . 7% 120 or less . . . . . . . 4% 121 or more . . . . . 11% 40 or less . . . . . . . A large majority of this year’s respondents have 40 or less mechanics on staff, jumping 19 percentage points from 2014, with all of the other responses shrinking. Very few respondents reported having part-time mechanics on staff. The average amount of mechanics on staff from this year’s survey totaled 127. Thirty-six percent of respondents report they cannot budget training — a slight drop from 2013’s 45%. Twenty-one percent report they are training mechanics 40 hours or less and 11% report they are training more than 80 hours — a slight uptick from 2014. Lane Transit District What sources do you use to deliver that training? Suppliers/Vendors 71% In-House 68% OEMs 57% College/school 29% Dealers 29% State, local or national associations 25% 0 20 40 60 Suppliers/vendors takes the top slot this year, jumping OEMs, which dropped 25 percentage points from 2014. In-house training programs also climbed significantly, 23 percentage points, while college/school jumped 15 percentage points. (Note: Transit agencies were able to provide several answers so there is some overlap.) Do you promote from within? Yes No No Sometimes Not sure 0% 25% Seventy-five percent of respondents reported they hire from within — a slight decrease from 2014. The number of agencies who only sometimes promote from within also shrank a bit. 16 < mETRO mAGAZINE May 2015 100 Tires rank as the fourth most bought part in this year’s survey, with an overwhelming 100% of agencies reporting they purchase filters the most. Are you buying more parts due to older buses? Yes 75% 80 From where do you source your parts? 50% 43% 7% Fifty percent report they are indeed buying more parts — a decrease from 2014 — while more respondents report they are not buying more parts due to older buses and 7% saying they are not able to tell if they have to buy more parts because their fleets are getting older. OEMs . . . . . . . . . . . . 48% Third-party . . . . . . . . 36% Manufacturers . . . . . 16% OEMs come out on top, but at a significantly lower rate than 2014’s 65%. (Note: Transit agencies were able to provide several answers so there is some overlap.) metro-magazine.com
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