1. Maintenance Program Administration
How to Develop and Administer a Preventative Maintenance Program

2. What is Preventative Maintenance?
Preventative Maintenance (PM) is a proactive maintenance program strategy that seeks to identify and repair defects in order to prevent failures. FDOT requires all agencies to develop and implement PM programs for their vehicle fleet.
Start with short explanation on how personal vehicle maintenance differs from PM - talk briefly about how that differs
Smaller agencies don’t realize that there is more to servicing a vehicle than just oil changes. We have run in to that scenario often where agencies do not perform PM’s but just take the vehicles in for oil changes and receive a 27 point courtesy inspection and consider that a qualifying PM.

3. Proactive vs. Reactive Maintenance
Proactive Maintenance Programs
Reactive Maintenance Programs
Majority of maintenance activities are scheduled
Majority of maintenance activities are unscheduled
Promotes vehicle safety by anticipating problems before they occur
Creates unsafe conditions due to unforeseen breakdowns and failures
Provide more consistent vehicle service due to majority of vehicle maintenance downtime being planned
Creates less reliable vehicle service due to unexpected failures and longer periods of vehicle downtime for major repairs
Extends vehicle life expectancy
Significantly shortens vehicle life expectancy
Controls and reduces vehicle maintenance cost
Increases vehicle maintenance cost due to more expensive major failures
Difference between proactive/reactive maintenance programs – FDOT requires proactive maintenance
Proactive maintenance is anticipating problems as opposed to reacting to failures.
Proactive maintenance is a preventive maintenance strategy.
Makes it possible to perform maintenance only when necessary.
Helps identify root cause of failures.
Extends the life of the vehicles.
Saves costs.
Reactive Maintenance is also referred to as breakdown maintenance.
More expensive than proactive maintenance.
Shorter life expectancy of the vehicle.
Creates unsafe conditions.
Maintenance controls the agency as opposed to the agency using time efficiently.
Planned work may be pushed aside or cancelled completely.

4. PM Programs Reduce Maintenance Cost
Type of Work Performed
Scheduled
Unscheduled
Brake Job
Replace rear brake pads during PM inspection - $253.40
Replace front brake pads, calipers and rotors due to brake failure – $1,348.72
Front Wheel Bearings
Repack front wheel bearings during PM inspection - $149.95
Replace front end due to failure – $1,475.98
Transmission
Transmission service at PM interval - $165.98
Transmission rebuild due to failure – $2,662.30
Show cost comparison between scheduled PM costs and breakdown/reactive maintenance costs
Emphasize that breakdown/reactive maintenance is significantly more expensive.

5. Developing a Maintenance Program Plan
Agencies are required to develop maintenance plans that provide comprehensive descriptions of:
Maintenance program policies
Agency staff roles and responsibilities related to vehicle maintenance
Maintenance program procedures that meet or exceed FDOT requirements
Agencies must include descriptions of their specific internal procedures, practices, etc.
Customization of a maintenance plan is one of the most common findings during a maintenance review. Agencies need to expand on their Maintenance Plan template to include their actual procedures for accomplishing the standards stated in the template.

6. PM Inspections and Intervals
FDOT requires agencies to conduct routine PM inspections that meet or exceed FDOT requirements.
The maintenance plan must include target mileage intervals for all inspections and services conducted on the vehicles used for public transportation:
Routine PM inspections
Oil changes
Long term maintenance services, such as transmission service, engine tune up, differential service, etc. as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer OEM
Other vehicle components or add-ons, such as fareboxes, cameras, radios, etc.
PM inspection schedules and intervals are a significant part of agency’s maintenance plan. Agencies need to describe the methods used to track each type of maintenance inspection and services. But it doesn’t stop there. The agency must include ALL intervals that are used for preventative maintenance practices.
For example, if your agency uses a separate target mileage interval for conducting oil changes, that interval must be stated in the maintenance plan.
If your agency uses separate intervals for different types of vehicles, this should be described in the maintenance plan.
Maintenance plans must also include the long term intervals used for OEM components, such as transmissions, differentials, fareboxes, etc.

7. Customize Your Template
Maintenance plan templates provided by FDOT should be updated to include the agency’s own unique procedures and practices for:
Tracking upcoming PM inspections, services and other ongoing maintenance activities
PM inspection target intervals and policies
Pre/post-trip inspection process
Information management
Maintenance plan as business plan – helps provide comprehensive overview of how agency does business
Can assist with employee turnover – can be used to train new employees
Who is responsible for vehicle maintenance at the agency? How are mileages tracked and monitored for on-time inspections and oil changes/services? What methods are used to continuously track and monitor ongoing maintenance activities?
Maintenance plans should follow paper trail for PM inspections and pre/post-trip inspections – who reviews the forms? When are the forms reviewed? What is the agency’s policy for removing vehicles from service due to safety defects? How are defects prioritized for repair? What other methods are used to ensure passenger safety? These are all processes that an agency must describe in their maintenance plan.
Establishing these procedures in a written plan helps agency staff understand their roles and responsibilities regarding vehicle maintenance activities.
Maintenance plans are living documents – they should be updated each time policies or fleet information changes at the agency.

8. Extending Minimum Requirements
When target intervals extend beyond minimum standards, agencies must include written justifications in their maintenance plan that include:
Oil samples showing no rise in wear metals
Historical data showing limited miles per road calls or limited unscheduled maintenance work between PMs
Vehicle performance enhancement
Agencies with extended PM intervals must provide written justification for these practices that meet FDOT approval.
For example:
If your oil change interval exceeds OEM requirements and FDOT minimum standards, you must perform routine oil analysis for a percentage of the fleet. The oil analysis must be used to continuously monitor the levels of wear metals contaminating the oil sample. When wear metal levels are consistently low, the target mileage interval for the oil change can increase by 500 miles each time. When there is a rise in wear metals, the target mileage interval used to conduct oil changes should be reduced by 500 miles for the whole fleet.
In addition to oil samples, the agency must document, monitor and file vehicle performance data that shows minimal road calls and unscheduled work between PM’s. This whole process must be clearly described in the agency’s maintenance plan.
Please note: you must follow OEM recommendations for severe duty due to the nature of public transit (lots of stopping and going).

9. Reviewing Inspection Forms
All completed inspection forms must be reviewed for:
Date and mileage at the time of the inspection
Correct type of inspection performed
Defects found during the inspection – safety or non-safety?
Name and signature of entity and technician conducting the work
ALL PM and pre/post-trip inspection forms should be reviewed by the agency – even when there are no defects identified. This will help identify potential issues with technicians or drivers thoroughly completing the forms.
ALL defects identified during inspections should be reported to maintenance. Someone with knowledge of vehicle maintenance may identify potentially serious issues that were not caught by dispatch/operations/admin staff – (give example of safety defect not being identified by admin)

10. Safety vs. Non-Safety Defects
Check defects against vehicle components determined by FDOT to be safety sensitive:
Safety defects must be repaired immediately
Non-safety defects can be scheduled for repair at a later date
All defects identified during inspections must have corresponding documentation of repair
ALL defects identified during inspections must be scheduled for repair in a timely manner.
Safety defects must be repaired before the vehicle is used for passenger service. You can find list of safety sensitive vehicle components in FDOT’s PM Standards Manual – 4.1 Edition. Critical safety defects that warrant immediate removal from service – wheelchair lift, tires, brakes.
Non-safety defects can be scheduled for later repair. This can happen due to: scheduling needs, parts availability, etc.
ALL deferred repairs must be monitored closely in order to follow through – if agency cannot provide close monitoring, all defects should be repaired at the time of the inspection or immediately afterwards.
When in doubt, defer to maintenance for judgments on safety vs. non-safety defects

11. Vehicle History Files Manual vs. electronic files: Organized
Direct and immediate access to vehicle maintenance history
Must include ALL maintenance activities – all inspections conducted for the fleet, routine services, and repairs
All repair work orders should document the origin of the defect – due to pre/post-trip inspection, PM inspection, road call, warranty, recall, unscheduled, etc.
All inspection forms with defects noted should be attached to the invoice or work order showing the corresponding repair
All maintenance activities must be filed in the vehicle history file for the life of the vehicle – this paper trail is needed to provide efficient monitoring and oversight of the fleet’s maintenance activities.
Documentation, documentation, documentation!... If activities are not documented in the vehicle history files, they can’t be proven to have occurred. This has been a major concern during maintenance reviews.

12. Monitoring Maintenance Activities
Benefits of monitoring ongoing maintenance activities:
Helps identify unscheduled work that should have been caught during last inspection
Assists with identifying repeat failure
Controls maintenance cost
Helps with conducting maintenance activities in a timely and efficient manner
Fleet maintenance oversight is critical to determining thoroughness of PM program.
Oversight can help determine if PM inspections are thorough - may notice a trend of unscheduled work occurring shortly after PM inspections have been performed. Could indicate whether technicians are properly trained to conduct these PM inspections.
Can identify repeat failures – info should be used to determine root cause of failures
Monitoring and reducing unscheduled and repeat work helps control fleet maintenance costs.
Monitoring all maintenance activities ensures they are performed in a timely and efficient manner
Monitoring your maintenance activity allows you to have control over your maintenance program. Creating that paper trail and documenting the origination of a defect through the process of repair will give you the ability to not only ensure that repairs are made but to analyze the type of repair and identify trends or repeat failures.

13. Outsourcing Maintenance
Show how outsourcing touches everyone in the room.
Majority of agencies outsource all maintenance activities
Many county BOCC’s receive grant funding directly and outsource maintenance activities to county shops
Half of the large transit agencies who have in-house maintenance programs either outsource paratransit maintenance (and also operations) or have coordination agreements with small agencies who outsource maintenance.

14. Monitoring Outsourced Maintenance
Agencies must have oversight of all outsourced maintenance activities.
Coordination with provider
Advocate for maintenance work prioritization
Lack of control of personnel/technician experience
Some basic challenges for outsourced maintenance:
Coordinating and scheduling with the outsourced provider (maintenance work is not immediate like in-house shops) is a significant issue. It can take some time to get vehicles in for PMs/repairs. It is important to know what the average wait time is for getting vehicles in for work.
Cannot control work prioritization – agencies need to advocate with their shop about the importance of PM inspections/work due to passenger transportation
Need to have oversight of technician work – cannot control hiring/firing/technician’s experience

15. Monitoring Outsourced Maintenance
How can we overcome outsourcing challenges?
Develop an outsource agreement
Strengthen communication with outsource provider
Multiple outsourcing options
Dedicated mechanics
Increased monitoring
Training opportunities
Service agreements should outline the contractual relationship between the agency and outsource provider. Should include:
Procedures for scheduling maintenance work
Agency expectations for PM inspections performed – inspections must meet or exceed FDOT minimum standards – this is especially important because outsource shops generally focus on repairs rather than PM
Routine communication with shops – ask questions about inspection defects and repairs – get more involved
Have a back up plan – another outsource provider that can help if the main shop can’t
One good practice for county shops is hiring dedicated mechanic(s) – Levy County BOCC (Connie Conley) as best practice
Set up good monitoring system for oversight of maintenance activities – this can be done regardless of maintenance knowledge/experience
Training for vehicle components specific to transit vehicles

16. Maintenance is Predictive
Fleet maintenance activities and costs can be predicted and planned:
Target intervals used to predict scheduled maintenance work
Fleet campaigns
Knowing upcoming maintenance work can help control vehicle maintenance budget
Fleet maintenance work can be predicted and planned for the year:
Compare target intervals with average mileage/month to predict upcoming maintenance work for the year. Use average miles/month to estimate when vehicles will be needing certain services – both oil changes/PM and long term maintenance – give example
Use failure trends to start campaigns – if you notice a part fails around a certain mileage frame, you can start a campaign to replace the part on the whole fleet at a certain predetermined mileage. Remember to update your maintenance plan with this information when it changes.
Plan for annual maintenance budgets when you know the type of work that will be needed for the year. Can use that information to apply for grant funding to cover that maintenance. This needs to be spelled out in maintenance plan. But grant funding determinations are ultimately at District’s discretion

17. Creating a Basic Maintenance Log
Maintenance logs can be developed manually or using Microsoft applications.
Here is an example of a maintenance log developed in Excel.
Logs should track each of the following maintenance activities in order to have a good overview of the whole fleet maintenance program:
Inspections
Date, mileage each vehicle inspection
Defects noted/repaired
Cost of inspection (and corresponding repairs, if applicable)
Repairs
Date, mileage of repairs occurring between inspections
Origin of defect (pre-trip, PM, road call, unscheduled)
Type of repair (scheduled, non-scheduled)
Miles between repairs and previous inspection
Cost of repair

18. How to Identify Maintenance Trends
Analyze the repairs between inspections:
Determine mileage between repair and prior PM
Was the component marked defective on prior PM or pre/post-trip inspection form?
If not, should the issue have been caught during the inspection?
Is it a repeat repair?
When in doubt, ask someone!
How to analyze the repairs occurring between inspections
Short mileages between repairs and prior PM inspection – should raise more questions
Pull recent PM and pre/post-trip inspection forms to check if defect was identified during the inspection
If the defect was identified, why was it not repaired? Did this lead to an unscheduled repair?
If defect not identified, should it have been? Could indicate inspections are not thoroughly conducted
Repeat repairs – some repeat repairs are normal – it could take a couple trial and errors to find the root cause of the failure
If you don’t know, ask! Ask the shop or ask TRIPS program – introduce Carlton to audience

19. Can You Spot the Trends? Example 1
Things to notice:
Ratio of scheduled vs. unscheduled maintenance – mostly unscheduled maintenance
Repeat failures – air suspension/air suspension leak – need to ask questions – when you can’t ask your shop, you can contact the TRIPS program
Transmission failure - no records of transmission fluid change prior to failure
Good example at maintenance when they switched to new shop – see example of defects found and followed up with repair

20. Can You Spot the Trends? Example 2
Things to notice:
Ratio of scheduled vs. unscheduled maintenance – half are unscheduled
Repeat failures – A/C – need to ask the shop questions and/or need to contact TRIPS – roughly $2,000 spent on this issue during 5 month/5,872 miles
Tires/Water Pump/Wheelchair lift repairs – when you pull recent DVI/PM forms, you find these components weren’t checked as defective. Why??

21. Adjusting the Maintenance Program
What to do after identifying trends:
Refresher training – drivers and/or mechanics
Specify outsource agreement to better manage fleet maintenance needs/priorities
Start a campaign
Adjust PM intervals
Update maintenance plan with newly adjusted intervals/policies/practices
In-house mechanic training is easily implemented by agency
Plug upcoming training contract with FDOT as another option
Refresh drivers on how to do more thorough pre/post-trip inspections
Implement outsource agreement to communicate fleet maintenance needs to shop – remember, they are used to reactive maintenance, not PM
Replace certain components at predetermined intervals if noticing failure trend across multiple similar vehicles
Adjust intervals used for PM inspections/services
If any changes are made, remember to update maintenance plan with new intervals/policies/practices

22. Resources www.prmpt.org
FDOT Preventative Maintenance Standards Manual – 4.1 Edition
Outsource Maintenance Manual
Sample outsource agreement templates
Maintenance plan templates
Sample PM and pre/post-trip inspection forms
PM inspection tracking spreadsheets
Maintenance activity monitoring spreadsheets

23. Questions or Comments