PM Service

Regarding safety issues found at a shop..


I'll back what Big Don said.


I worked at a dealership as a mechanic and when it came to finding "safety issues" with trucks I worked on, whether or not they got fixed depended on a couple of things.

If it was something that was super-cheap to fix in both parts/time, I'd fix it and the customer wouldn't be charged. (Stuff like leaking air line fittings)

If the issue was something that would require more than a fifty cent part and two minutes of time, then all I could do was document what I found in my paperwork and pass the information along to the service advisers. The advisers then had to call the person paying the bill, and if that individual said "no" to that repair... The repair didn't get done. Did I like occasionally having to send out a truck I knew would not pass a DOT inspection? No, not at all. However, it wasn't my call to make.

 

You forgot about the road service expense there. . .

 

I've always been told it meant Preventive maintenance.

 

It's extremely rare to find a shop like this. I would think they all would do it just out of profit motive but they don't.

 

This. We've had a heck of a time finding a shop who will do a good job and not send my truck back out with more issues than it came to them with. I don't think I should have to spend 30 mins when I get back tightening loose and leaking filters and putting the air box back together because someone forgot or was in too much of a hurry. Then there's the list of things they supposedly checked, and I can find 2 or 3 items which were never attended to because there is an issue (under inflated tire, marker light out, etc). It's sad because the company will pay as long as it's done. But they would apparently rather move the next one in instead

I don't mean to thread hijack, but is filter recycling a common practice in the industry? I find it hard to believe "new" oil and fuel filters would have that much caked on grease already...

 

the P.M. service on my truck, typically takes my boss/mechanic about 3 hrs to do. Oil, all filters, grease everything bottom to top, inspect belts, hoses, clamps, lights, tires (including rotating them), checks air pressure, as best he can without pulling drums checks wheel seals and brake condition, adjusts anything that needs adjusting. The A/C usually only gets checked once a year, unless I complain it's not cold enough. Then I usually get left a note about how the inside of my truck isn't clean enough, which I usually leave the note back on his desk with a ransom note for whatever tool he left laying in my truck.

 

Well, Truck Smarter, you have a definition of the acronym "PM" that's as good as any. I don't see it as being reasonable, especially when fleets are doing PM's (old fashioned Preventive Maintenance definition) at 40K. Some change the filters at a mere 20K. But at what point in your "PLANNED Maintenance does a serious safety and compliance inspection occur? That's BS, saving money by not doing a full inspection, in my world. Those inspections, by qualified performers, are a most valuable tool for safety, reliability, and for me, profit dollars. I own a truck, I'm not a company driver, and that makes a difference, but I don't think any professional driver should be negligent or casual about inspections. Not ever.

There's another definition I've been hearing more about lately - "Predictive Maintenance." In this nightmare, engineers and accountants compile data about failure limits on components, and change them out on that schedule. Most people agree, not all trucks and not all drivers are the same. One truck and driver might get 1,000,000 miles out o a clutch, 400K on drives and 250K on steers, so on. The next driver in the same truck might get half of those figures. I used to be more in line with this, if one hose failed, change all hoses, if one belt failed, change all belts (not on a semi or serpentine) buy items in sets rather than replacing failed components (depending on the service timeframe) Now I replace failing components, and I use those PM inspections to gather relevant information, factual information. I can't imagine not doing those inspections, the more thorough the better.

About "don't blame the mechanics." I do. If you shortcut the inspection process to save the company money, you're just as guilty when a failure could have been anticipated and prevented, but it happens and somebody runs over the old lady on the corner. None of us should operate in such an irresponsible manner, using "the company made me do it" as an excuse for personal lack of morals, lack of courage, lack of responsibility. The more people who refuse to operate in a negligent manner, the better we'll all be in the long run. Doing incomplete or minimal performance for profit dollars is just plain wrong, plain stupid, and just plain annoying. After all, the people who gain the profit aren't the ones getting their hands dirty doing the work anyway.

 

"If you ever want to see your 1/2 inch ratchet again you will fix my A/C and clean my filthy truck by 4:00pm this evening!
Do not involve the police or your precious ratchet gets it!!!"