As part of BusCon’s Breakfast General Session, Halsey King of Halsey King and Associates discussed the Vehicle Maintenance Management and Inspection (VMMI) program, which is offered through the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA).

Working with CTAA and the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Rural Transit Assistance Program, the VMMI program is based largely upon the Transportation Cooperative Research Board’s Report #29. The report, “Closing the Knowledge Gap for Transit Maintenance Employees,” outlines a number of maintenance findings and needs and hit the industry just as the “Care and Feeding of School Buses” national fleet program, which was presented with Eastern Michigan University, was closing.

The intent of the VMMI program is to provide maintenance managers and staff a unique opportunity to receive training and industry knowledge they were not previously receiving, according to Halsey King.

“There are several programs out there for drivers and managers, but the industry never had one specifically for maintenance personnel, so we got together and developed VMMI,” he says. “Over the years, we have upgraded VMMI to include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal and state laws that have been put into place. We also try to be one step ahead of what bus manufacturers are doing, to the extent we can.”

Keeping information in the VMMI program fresh is key, King adds, since many folks in the maintenance shops can’t get away to visit shows like BusCon to find out what’s new in the industry. Because of this, some maintenance managers and personnel may have also not learned much more since they started the job.

“We felt that we really needed to take a look at the systems and components that we’re teaching, because once people graduate from a school, their training is over and whatever skills and knowledge they have stays with them for the next few years,” he says. “Often times, that is because they can’t get out to a lot of these shows and hear it straight from the professionals.”

To help solve this issue, VMMI and other Halsey King and Associates programs travel around the nation to train classes of up to 25 people over two to three days. To date, training has been delivered in locations covering 43 states, with thousands of maintenance managers and staff, in addition to state department of transportation staff, enforcement agencies and even Altoona testing center staff receiving training.

“Initially, it was aimed at maintenance people, but now when I teach the course, the students can be anything from maintenance folks to drivers to board members to corporate officers,” King says. “It has really grown in popularity over the years and has been helpful for people outside of the maintenance departments to understand what needs to get done in the shop.”[PAGEBREAK]The course
The three-day course sets the stage for a greater understanding of 5307, 5310 and 5311 bus maintenance activities. VMMI was designed specifically for managers and technicians who operate/maintain rural and complementary vans, cutaway paratransit vehicles and buses under 30-feet in length.

“When we developed this program, we knew it was going to start to attract the people working at operations with smaller bus fleets, whether they were working on paratransit vehicles or 40-foot buses, and that has come to pass over the years,” King says.

VMMI covers the practical and legal reasons for proper inspection and preventive maintenance programs, including the principles of vehicle safety inspection, hands-on training of vehicle safety inspection and vehicle safety inspection testing, as well as how federal and state safety standards and regulations play a part in developing those programs.

“We give them everything they need to write a preventive maintenance program, but it’s up to them to ensure they take that information and do it,” says King. “A solid [preventive maintenance] program extends the life of the bus, keeps it in safe operating condition, and helps control the initial purchase and ongoing cost per mile.”

VMMI explains and demonstrates a 12-module technique for inspecting buses that starts at the driver’s seat and ends under the rear of the bus. During the training process, King demonstrates how drivers and technicians can bring about a dramatic improvement in bus conditions by following the 12 modules.

The technique has been provided to hundreds of public and private organizations nationwide, with several states adopting the 12 module inspection process into their statewide rural transportation program.

“We put a bus up in the air, take them around it and discuss the inspection process,” King says. “We have a lot of fun in class, there are plenty of laughs, but also, some serious moments when I discuss what the costs could be if there isn’t a proper inspection and maintenance program in place.”

Solving the learning curve
During his presentation at BusCon, King discussed some of the lessons learned from the years of delivering VMMI, including the need for the inspection process to be enhanced through regular training and direct supervision.

Going along with the floor technicians’ inability to get to expos and conferences to get a firsthand look at new technologies and meet with company representatives, King has found that there is a deficiency throughout the industry in knowledge of basic electrical, advanced electrical and electronics. In response, King has tried to always bring new technologies to the attention of VMMI students.

“Over the years, every time we put the VMMI program on, we look at what they’re talking about at the high levels of the Society of Automotive Engineers, pick out what will end up on a bus or paratransit vehicle, and bring that information along with us,” he says. “I have introduced new technologies to the maintenance people across America even before it was written about in magazines or discussed in their shops, including silicone fluids, LED lights and systems, electric steering and advanced tire retreading.”

Additional lessons learned through providing VMMI training include little understanding of federal bus inspection criteria outlined in Code of Federal Regulations 49; lack of understanding of the technicians’ responsibilities under ADA regulations; and misinformation about tires, with some replacing a tire without checking the U.S. Department of Transportation tire information plate.

There are several courses taking shape in many states throughout 2013.

Local, regional and state agencies interested in scheduling a course can contact CTAA. There are several options available including open and closed enrollment. An all-inclusive package includes all travel and related expenses for the trainer and all workshop materials, with the hosting organization responsible for supplying the classroom site, a bus hoist, a lift-equipped vehicle, and audio/visual equipment.