THE IDEAL SHOP

Ask five fleet managers what the ideal maintenance shop would look like and you'll get five very different answers. What they'll have in common, however, will be safer and more ergonomic working conditions for technicians, improved productivity at lower cost, and more “green” initiatives. But there will be tremendous variation in how fleets accomplish these objectives.

To begin with, the overall structure of a maintenance operation must match the carrier's operation. While TL and LTL carriers can't rely on a centralized shop to take care of units scattered across the country, it's the perfect setup for municipal fleets, with equipment typically clustered within a small area or region.

Palm Beach County, FL, for example, recently completed a massive central shop with 78 bays grouped in three spokes and connected by a central hub that houses parts storage and administrative offices. Everything's rated to withstand 150-mph hurricane-force winds.

Yet that set-up could be anathema to an OTR carrier like West Chester, PA-based A. Duie Pyle. “We cannot operate efficiently with one large centrally located shop,” says James “Jim” Miske, director of fleet maintenance. “Our guarantee of service to our customers requires a well-designed and well-equipped shop in each terminal. With multiple customer service locations throughout the Northeast, we must have the technical support based in each terminal.”

Drive-through shops are favored by many tractor-trailer fleets, while pull-in structures work better for mixed-vehicle operations and fleets based in colder climates. “In the South, we like to use drive-through shop designs; they give us a way to provide extra ventilation to disperse the heat,” says Mike Burger, vp-maintenance for LTL carrier Saia Inc. “Up North, however, they are not practical since you want to retain heat.”

Charles “Chuck” Carew, maintenance coordinator for central Florida at Cemex, a concrete and materials hauler, says: “We use pull-in bays…because we don't have many tractor-trailers in our fleet. We also use high-volume fans to help cool the shop in the summer.”

But most fleets agree that there's no fast or easy way to make their ideal shop become a reality. “It took two years of planning — from initial needs assessment to meetings with shop supervisors, technicians and finally the architects — before the design drawings for our new shop were done and we could send the project out to contractors for bids,” explains Douglas Weichman, director of the fleet management division for Palm Beach County.

“We analyzed every detail, including things such as how many electrical outlets per bay and which way we wanted interior doors to open, because our whole focus was to make the shop as efficient as possible,” he says. “We didn't want technicians wandering around the parking lot looking for the next truck in line for repairs. We didn't want awnings on our shop, as they could be ripped off by hurricanes. We had to analyze everything, from the weather to our productivity goals, to get the shop ideal for us.”

BEGIN WITH THE BASICS

For Darry Stuart, a former fleet manager and past general chairman of the Technology & Maintenance Council, creating the ideal shop begins with establishing the physical layout that will best fit a fleet's needs. “It's all about the real estate. You need to make it wide enough and long enough — as a minimum, 25-ft.-wide bays, with extra space between them and plenty of room for storing parts, tools and other materials,” he says. “Fleets get so focused on fitting trucks and tools into their shops that they forget about adding space for vehicle maneuvering, extra storage and technician work areas. Build it high, too, so it can be easily converted into a warehouse in the future. That will make it a more valuable structure.”

Lighting is also very critical. “Get as much natural light as you can through the ceiling — via skylights, for example — and through the doors,” Stuart says. “Paint the walls white to reflect that natural light and help keep the interior brighter.”

Everything in the shop should be directed at maximizing technician productivity. “Think of a technician's time as costing you a dollar a minute,” he says. “Build workbenches between the bay doors — cantilevered off the wall between each bay — and equip them with a vise grip or grinder. That way a technician won't have to waste 20 minutes, thus costing you $20, looking for…tools or work space.”

Stuart also believes the ideal shop must be designed for cleanliness, with a brightly painted floor and shovels, brooms and mops located at each bay. “Keeping the floor clean makes the facility safer by reducing slips and falls.”

“Plans should require that maximum efficiencies be built into the layout and be the driving force of the design,” says Palm Beach County's Weichman. “This will allow the work force to be more productive.” For that reason, fleet managers should make sure their maintenance shops will be able to handle future needs.

“Pay close attention to things like heating, air conditioning and electrical systems. Make sure you have enough electrical panels, circuits and capacity for devices that you may need in the future,” he says.