New Innovations

Truck & Trailer Specialties now has the ability to mate a wireless remote to a Raven Flowmax 810 batch controller which will allow your employees the ability to prewet loads of salt from the loader or truck cab by a simple "push of a button".   For more information go to:  http://www.ttspec.com/.  Look in "new technology" portion of site.

Do you have need for a down pressure feature on your front mounted pickup snow plow?  Truck & Trailer Specialties has developed the necessary hydraulic features to provide down pressure capability on the Boss brand snowplows.  Previously, this feature was only available on Sno-Way brand snowplows.  Now you have the ability to bid "apples to apples".  Down pressure capability is absolutely essential if you utilize front mounted push brooms for intersection sweeping.  If you are still using a front mounted rotary broom for this task, you really need to reassess your operation.  I am aware of two fatalities caused by use of a rotary broom for intersection sweeping attibutable to the dust cloud created by the broom and the subsequent head-on collision that occurred in that dust cloud.  Plus the weight of the rotary broom and the dust create havoc with the vehicle it is mounted on.  Add to these issues the costs; including original purchase and labor to install plus the single use of a pickup.  Push brooms are relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain,  weigh no more than your snowplow, create little or no dust, easy to remove and install allowing the pickup to be used for other activities, and effective at sweeping off the "marbles" that cause vehicles to slide through intersections.  They will not clean off the sand as well as rotary brooms but this is not your living room, you only need to remove the gravel/marbles.  Trynex makes a very good product, check out their website.  Think about it.................

Newest Project; Liquid Chloride Bulk Storage & Pumping Station

Just completed the liquid chloride bulk storage and pumping station at city of Livonia.  This system features two control systems and spray bars, each one located at opposite ends of their salt storage building.  Both systems share a common pump, 10,500 gallon tank, and Y-strainer.  One system utilizes a spray bar set 5 feet off the ground to spray salt in front end loader bucket and controlled by a wireless remote radio transmitter and receiver.  The operator can activate the system from the loader cab.  The other spray bar is set-up to treat loads of salt in their snowplow trucks.  This system is activated by a remotely mounted push button switch with a 30 second delay feature so the driver can activate the system and climb back into the truck cab before the system activates.  I designed and installed this unit so am rather excited.  If any of you have need of bulk liquid system, contact me and I"ll see what I can offer you.

Fleet Management 101

To all the public sector fleet folks,  I know the "political push" right now is to downsize fleets and outsource more repair and maintenance work and, in my opinion, to a degree, that is fine.  However, be carefull, like every task you perform, set a goal;  follow Stephen Covey's advice:  "Start with the end in mind".  What should your fleet look like?  To set this goal, the "end users" must be part of the discussion; i.e. the operations folks.  You are the provider and they are your customers.  If you are not providing what they need for their operations, then you are useless.  In the private sector, you would be "fired" or bankrupt.  What you must do first is identify all your equipment by these criteria:  what activity is this equipment engaged in?  Proactive (planned maintenance)?  or  Reactive (unplanned/snowfall is great example)?  Is there a rental option available?  Here is good example;  you can rent road graders rather readily but what if you need a road grader with a wing plow mounted?  They are not readily available.  Or, is there a contractor or another agency that can be employed in a crisis?  Recent winters in Michigan have not been as severe as some in years past, but don't be deluded, we could suffer another blizzard.  We have been lucky recently, high winds and blowing snow cause visibilty issues which historically have created unsafe conditions for snow plows and they have been pulled off their routes.  This causes roadways to plug up and the end result is closed roads, even expressways, until snow removal equipment can be safely redeployed.  In this type scenario, graders with Vee plows and wing plows plus snowblowers are required.  If you auction off all this type of equipment, what are your plans in this type of emergency?  Do you have any concept of the delay cost to the Michigan economy caused by a closed I-94, for example?  How long do you think business, the general public, and politicians will "put up with this" while you try to locate equipment to reopen these trunklines due to your lack of foresight?    I heard a quote attributed to the current director of Michigan Department of Transportation: "Directors are fired over snow removal and rest areas".  If the director loses his job over your poor planning, how will this impact your job security?   Not saying fleet reduction isn't good viable fleet management, but make sure you know what you are doing and always include your customers in the decision process.  Equipment usage is important information in identifying equipment that can be eliminated, but it is not the only factor and by far, not the most important factor.  Quite a number of years ago, there was a huge snowstorm that followed the Ohio River and shut down that area.  Kentucky suffered the most and had the greatest difficulty restoring mobility.  As a result, the Commissioner of Highways in the Commonwealth of Kentucky lost his job.  The replacement commissioner and his employees formed relationships with contractors who agreed to supplement Kentucky DOT snow plow forces in crisis situations.  Kentucky DOT purchased "self contained" salt hoppers which they placed in storage to provide to these contractors if and when needed.  Obviously, the Kentucky DOT did not expect heavy usage of this equipment but still realized the necessity of having it in the inventory.  As a result of this event, I, Dave Budd (MDOT Southwest Region Operations Superintendent) with the support of Tom Maki (Region Engineer) established the MDOT Contingency Fleet and promoted and assisted in the development of the equipment rental optional use  contract to speed up the equipment rental process, especially in emergency situations (including tornado and storm clean-up).  We investigated rental dump trucks which we could equipment with MDOT owned hoppers and snow plows but determined retaining our plow trucks that were scheduled for auction was actually more viable.  We talked to vendors about providing graders with wing plows for short term rental which they would do but at a very stiff price.  What we did that made the most sense was to have excavating contractor on contract who would be available with their grader(s) and operators to open up roads, cut banks, etc. as needed.  Our contribution would be to mount our wing plow and front Vee plow on their grader.  They would be utilized on an "on-call or call-in" basis.  This will work, we already completed a pilot and docmented the process and any needed improvements.  We reseached a partnership with other agencies but the down side is; when we need their grader with wing plow, so do they.  Contractor equipment generally sets idle all winter so there is no conflict with usage.  My point is; there aare all types of options and various "public/private" sector partnering opportunities.  In the end, who benefits?  We all do.  My advice;  In your quest to become more efficent and leaner...........do it the smart way and "start with the end in mind".  An FYI:  I will soon have a book on Fleet Management available based upon my years of experience and the classes and seminars I have attended.  It will be available from LuLu Publishing.  I'll let you know when it is ready.  I have a book available from LuLu Publishing now but it has nothing to do with fleet or other technical issues.  Happy motoring!!!!!!!!

Reactive or Proactive; do you know the difference

I have been "scratching my head" for quite awhile trying to understand why more agencies do not fully employ proactive processes for both snow & ice control and fleet maintenance?  It has finally dawned on me;  too many of us have engaged in reactive behavour for so very long, we are conditioned to react; remember Palov's dog experiment?  It snows, we plow and apply chemical.  Truck breaks down we repair it.  Truck has dead batteries or no crank complaint,  we, may, test batteries and replace.  Of course, this happens when the truck is about to go out on a job, maybe even to plow snow.  Why did we wait until there was a no start complaint before we tested the batteries?  We know that batteries fail, right?  If you have worked in the business for any length of time, you can probably accurately predict the longevity of the batteries and many other truck components.  Let's review;  you know batteries have a finite life, right?  Your experience may suggest the life, in this application, is about two years.  Why don't you have a defined time frame for testing batteries?  Make it part of your PM.  You could have replaced the batteries mentioned in the previous story when the truck was out of service for regular maintenance and avoided a reactive repair and an angry operations foreman whose job was delayed due to break down.  Same for snow & ice control, we had snw this week.  It was predicted, temperatures were well below freezing.  The snowfall was light, 2-3" in many areas.  The day before the snowfall, temperatures below freezing, sun was out, roadway was clear and dry.  I would think, a perfect day for anti-ice application.  This was not the first snow event of the season, plus there had been several heavy rains, so pavement should have been free of rubber and oil residue.  Why did not agencies apply anti-ice chemical during regular work shift the day prior to the  trunkline.  The end result would have been less de-icer needed the next day, no packing/adhering of snow to road surface hence no ice buildup and faster "recovery time, and most likley, a huge decrease in accidents and slide-offs.   So, why was it not done?  Because we are way too programmed in the "reactive mind set"?  Everyone that reads this Blog should make a point of looking for situations where they can be proactive and evaluate every situation to determine if they could/should have been more proactive.  Every task you perform, ask yourself, what could I have done at the beginning to make a quicker, better, simpler outcome?   Think about it;  a 5,000 gallon tanker can do 20 gallon per lane mile anti-ice chemical application on a regular work shift (operator not making overtime wages) at the posted speed limit and cover 250 lane miles per trip in about 5 hours...............or............a tandem axle plow truck can carry about 10 tons of salt applying 200# per lane mile during a storm (operator could be on overtime) at 25 miles per hour and cover about 100 miles in 4 hours............you tell me which is the better option?  Same with the truck with dead battery?  Lose two hours of snow removal time due to reactive repair?  Or lose 0 time from snow removal as a result of proactive repair?   All that is required is a paradigm shift folks...............just because we have always "done it that way" does not necessarily mean we are "doing it the best way", especially with funding cuts and manpower shortages....