It may also discuss the major industries that employed the occupation. Discover jobs. What kind of outsource work couldnt be achieved by regular fleet staff ? My question went to School Transportation News, on line. Hours worked = Time spent actively completing work orders Multiply each number in the ratio by the value of one part: 6 x 8.75 and 2 x 8.75. Some manufacturers offer certification in specific repair methods or equipment. Furthermore, 70% of the companies lack awareness of which assets require maintenance. Physical strength. Fleet organizations with liberal leave policies and a senior staff clearly will have a lower number of available labor hours. The State and Area Data tab provides links to state and area occupational data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, state projections data from Projections Central, and occupational information from the Department of Labor's CareerOneStop. Additionally, organizations that do not actively manage labor reporting tend to lose hours during the year. Dayton, Ohio. Once the demand and supply of labor is known, mechanic staffing requirements can be calculated. There is also a salary info tool to search for wages by zip code. Measuring the performance of your technicians, as a whole and individually, shouldn't feel like punishment or micro-managing. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Overall employment of heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians is projected to grow 8 percent from 2021 to 2031, faster than the average for all occupations. The What They Do tab describes the typical duties and responsibilities of workers in the occupation, including what tools and equipment they use and how closely they are supervised. Previewing 48 of 59 pages. Another method of determining labor demand is using a technique known as Vehicle Equivalent Unit (VEU) Analysis. Perhaps you would be willing to write an article about it. Hours Invoiced / Hours Worked = X Goal: Greater than 1. wsauer3481 EDSI Consulting prepared this report under TCRP Project E-10. In this example, the labor demand is 10.3 mechanics (14,950 total annual demand for labor hours divided by 1,456 average labor hours available per mechanic.) We have 24 buses and 78 other pieces of equipment (trucks, vans, etc.). After identifying malfunctioning equipment, service technicians repair, replace, and recalibrate components such as hydraulic pumps and spark plugs. Wafler's system, which he uses through BLIG, looks at the bay-to-technician ratio of a shop and how that can be used to find its maximum production and efficiency. According to Vanson Bourne, average industrial downtime costs are 250.000 USD per hour, according to field service and IT decision-makers. Entry-level workers with no formal background in heavy vehicle repair often receive a few months of on-the-job training before they begin performing routine service tasks and making minor repairs. Before sharing sensitive information, I have experienced both challenges and benefits regarding the utilization of the VEU model to justify maintenance and repair staffing needs, said Fay. Fueling: who fuels the trucks, and who puts DEF in the trucks? Automotive body and glass repairers restore, refinish, and replace vehicle bodies and frames, windshields, and window glass. (Illustration: Shutterstock & Richard Aguirre). Mechanics who work primarily on automobiles are described in the profile on automotive service technicians and mechanics. What we really need is another supervisor/dispatcher for our department. Mechanics inspect, repair, and replace defective or worn parts. Over the past three years, OEMs have invested heavily in driver-focused equipment benefitsfrom cozy creature comforts to uptime- and productivity-boosting technology. Generally, more experienced service technicians specialize in field service. endobj Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians frequently lift heavy parts and tools, handle greasy and dirty equipment, and stand or lie in awkward positions. The number of maintenance technicians at a transit agency is based on financial constraints, fleet age, annual miles, powertrain type, how much work is outsourced, and a multitude of other key factors. Please advise on the appropriate number of buses and vehicles per mechanic? The report also documents the research team's development of an MS Excel-based Maintenance Staffing . The companys top priority is to ensure safety and support the operational teams by sustaining a very high percentage of asset uptime and availability. A tire is labeled 215/60 R X 15 92T: the T indicates? Related: Fleet Management Lessons From the Private Sector. endobj stream This could indicate an expired SSL certificate or a certificate that does not include the requested domain name. Troubleshooting skills. Most heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians have a high school diploma or equivalent. Please contact your hosting provider to ensure that an up-to-date and valid SSL certificate issued by a Certificate Authority is configured for this domain name on the origin server. TRBs Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 184: Maintenance Technician Staffing Levels for Modern Public Transit Fleets identifies existing tools and practices used to determine optimum maintenance technician staffing levels. The primary objective of this research was to produce an interactive staffing tool for use in determining optimum maintenance technician staffing levels for small, medium, and large public transit bus and other revenue fleets. Planning for necessary staffing levels - Agencies can add potential new vehicles to the inventory worksheet and see what effect this would have on required staffing. Efficiency numbers should hover around 125 percent, which means a technician working on cars for 7.2 hours in a day should produce 9 billable hours of work. During busy planting and harvesting seasons, for example, mechanics often work six or seven 12-hour days per week. Please contact your hosting provider to ensure that an up-to-date and valid SSL certificate issued by a Certificate Authority is configured for this domain name on the origin server. Overall employment of heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians is projected to grow 8 percent from 2021 to 2031, faster than the average for all occupations. The detail entered here will be reflected in the detail of the tools outcomes. An old fleet obviously requires more labor to keep in service than a brand new one. Other programs, which lead to associates degrees, generally take 2 years to complete. endstream endobj startxref An example of challenges would be the difficulty of assigning a baseline average for the time required to complete specific tasks. As the premiere online publication for the heavy-duty truck market, charting the latest in trucking equipment, technology, and service trends, Fleet Equipment has a knack for digging up the stories behind the stories (while having a lot of fun along the way). But many agencies conduct maintenance across locations or use a mix of in-house and contracted work. New Vehicle Tech. at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/heavy-vehicle-and-mobile-equipment-service-technicians.htm (visited March 03, 2023). White women: 17.5%. Training sessions may focus on particular components and technologies or particular types of equipment. Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians held about 223,000 jobs in 2021. Put simply, using VEUs means adding up how many sedans and sedan equivalencies an agency has in order to determine how many mechanics need to be hired. Thursday, September 8, 2022. This lack of reporting has consequences for both the accuracy of historical repair records and for cost recovery when a charge-back system is in place. attacks or slurs, hate speech, demonstrably false information, excessive profanity, or that are thinly veiled promotions for a product, will not be approved. It depends on various factors, example; Is it a fleet cars or pickups or busses or trucks or a mix? Senior Member, thomasvista2012 90%. An example would be to compare a base vehicle, such as a passenger sedan, to a fire engine, which is larger and heavier and requires more maintenance and repair than the smaller sedan does. /Length 4010 >> Automotive service technicians and mechanics inspect, maintain, and repair cars and light trucks. This subject of mechanic-to-fleet ratio and related issues sparks a real interest and concern. For example, he noted that all technicians and mechanics are not equal when it comes to their experience and ability to work at a standard pace. Bonus. To create a link to this page, use this URL: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA), Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS), TRID (A Transportation Research Database), http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=3327. 669 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<7022F297AD5B9C4C894041F0D3F5BDDD><2D3A11ECA97748468C7B3A740F6C16B2>]/Index[663 17]/Info 662 0 R/Length 53/Prev 664975/Root 664 0 R/Size 680/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream 960 0 obj <>stream Technician A says that torque prevailing nuts can be reused unless damaged. The results of the existing, calculated necessary, and revised staff levels are compared side to side. Learn more about heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations. According to an article by Moog Parts, rack and pinion steering works by using a gear system to translate the steering wheel's circular motion into the linear motion needed to turn the wheels. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program produces employment and wage estimates annually for over 800 occupations. Other elements that impact labor demand include usage levels, operating environment, and fleet assignment practices (i.e. The median annual wage for heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians was $53,770 in May 2021. Additional troubleshooting information here. Technician A says that the gear ratios of both differentials are the same in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. In the private sector a lengthy delay can mean success or failure on the job, which ultimately impacts customer relationships. Another calculation includes maintenance and repair units, which involves comparing requirements of one vehicle group to another vehicle category. Some rail car repairers should continue to be needed to service trains used for freight shipping and transportation, as well as for public transportation. 1 tech x 40 att. The projected percent change in employment from 2021 to 2031. Women held 26.1% of jobs in the motor vehicles and motor vehicles equipment manufacturing industry. This tab also includes links to relevant occupational information from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). Geotab says this tool enhances data analysis and automated reporting capabilities. The employment, or size, of this occupation in 2021, which is the base year of the 2021-31 employment projections. /Contents 4 0 R>> endstream endobj 664 0 obj <. Then there are the questions involving required operational shop hours, accidents, damages, internal damages and, to some degree, the specifications of the vehicles, the number of DVIRS, type of electronic equipment. Now you can be a part of it! 0 If an agency does all its maintenance in one location then using the tool once is sufficient. https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any Maintenance Staffing Calculator User Guide 6 . Data from hundreds of fleet organizations has demonstrated a VEU of 1.0 is normally equal to between 10 and 15 annual maintenance labor hours, depending upon a number of factors unique to each organization. For most profiles, this tab has a table with wages in the major industries employing the occupation. The data is broken down into statistics like vehicles maintained per technician, FTE technicians per vehicle, and annual maintenance hours per 10,000 vehicle miles. . Mechanics who work primarily on large trucks and buses are described in the profile on diesel service technicians and mechanics. Recalls, in the fleet world today, are at an all-time high; cost containment is always a concern as vehicles and equipment possess far more technology than ever before. Explore resources for employment and wages by state and area for heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians. 0 Less. These next two worksheets present the results of the tools calculations. Bookmark +. Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians repair and maintain engines, hydraulic systems, transmissions, and electrical systems of agricultural, industrial, construction, and rail equipment. Entering basic operations information into the calculator will provide a quick snapshot of the agency's staffing needs, but it is also possible to go into much more detail. Small engine mechanics inspect, service, and repair motorized power equipment. The effect on labour profits is then: Labour sales. When leasing companies quote numbers, which are normally are very attractive, it does not include all the little extras technicians may be asked to do. Introduced three years ago, the American Petroleum Institute (API)s CK-4 and FA-4 oil categories were billed as the next generation of oil, improving on the engine protection and fuel economy benefits offered by previous engine oil categories. Contact Steve Hirano at Steve.Hirano@bobit.com. in our city owned fleet we have 400+ buses. A. As such, the results of the calculator should be considered to reflect broad comparisons rather than objectively correct staffing levels. . The result of this calculation for all mechanics is the number of productive hours a fleet has available. Rope Rescue. To investigate these discrepancies, the research team conducted two rounds of interviews with transit agencies. Technician A says that the output gear will be going faster than the input gear. IT IS NOT ALL THAT BAD IF YOU HAVE GOOD KEY PERSONEL IN THE RIGHT PLACES. Mercury Associates Inc. in Rockville, Md., provides comprehensive fuel and fleet management consulting services to state and local governments, federal governments and private companies. Possible Range. hours x 44 weeks x 107.8% overall efficiency x 60 per hour = 113,520. This can be as specific as the agency wants, with vehicles broken down by broad category (35-foot buses, cutaway buses) all the way down to year, manufacturer, or other specifics. High school courses in automotive repair, electronics, physics, and welding provide a strong foundation for a service technicians career. Technician B says that the rear differential has a slightly higher ratio (lower number) than the front differential. Farm equipment mechanics work varies by time of the year. While a 70-percent of payroll hours (i.e., 1,456 hours per year) measure is a commonly used benchmark, each organization should calculate its actual performance based on detailed time-keeping records. Imperial Metric Vehicle speed in MPH This is usually a question that comes from a finance person talking to another finance person or a guaranteed maintenance provider quoting seeding answers in a way to obtain a new client, or a leasing company trying to take over the shops, or determining a lease for new equipment. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. What we used to accept as reasonable ratios no longer applies. Population and business growth should result in greater demand for new houses, office buildings, bridges, and other structures, which in turn may require more mobile heavy equipment mechanics in the construction industry. Last Modified Date: Prior to co-founding Mercury, he held positions as the chief of fleet management for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and as equipment management director for the city of Charlotte, N.C. Conversely, he said, a complex and maintenance-intensive piece of equipment, such as a refuse collection truck, might require the same effort to maintain as 10 standard sedans. There is no textbook formula for maintenance managers to determine the optimum ratio of maintenance technicians for their fleet size, as the number varies tremendously between public transit fleets. Profit Sharing. Maintenance activities not included in the previous sheet are entered here. Industrial machinery mechanics, machinery maintenance workers, and millwrights install, maintain, and repair factory equipment and other industrial machinery. Rail car repairers specialize in servicing railroad locomotives, subway cars, and other rolling stock. Salary ranges can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession. Many government organizations do not have a methodology to determine how many mechanics are required to maintain their fleet. Repeating this process for each class and type of vehicle yields the total average annual labor demand for the fleet. I asked that question about a month ago and did not receive a replay. Do not over-maintain and have all the costs related to the hours your techs spend on changing light bulbs in the office at your finger tips. Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians, also called mechanics, inspect, maintain, and repair vehicles and machinery used in construction, farming, rail transportation, and other industries. QBU\~Rp4c1QHsKI:C6u+~uT*3d=9KV*LihZ/HyIX\:c5@~`%V/D@0(]'G^f7|BJ^_3M_OW Q^h;y5+jSdPA6)07HHltD3)IA33Z8W. TU3(')C%Yyi0}J o(sC%/$ =-LumbWe B3u+sapEL2)ehZ=Y8m(TJD_f>`u0%&X;ZhMKaHm,(B- lC]:@6,@$n$[`w'XQ%fxavt7IWu-gX0m5Uzbasr `?o='R#Ip; 40G3k\x1)G %]D=Mu8',GL+. %PDF-1.7 The number of mechanics/technicians required to maintain this sample fleet is more than a fleet of 100 sedans, but far less than a fleet of 100 dump trucks. The This leads to unexpected failures and expensive downtime. f cf`apa`vdbT1b`QlhsjAQCNPASF&>ffe90oQ7(8hPtes0ycoN~n7@s??o Z@@j88: ! make sure you're on a federal government site. Kenworth and Platform Science have announced a strategic partnership that will see the integration of Platform Science's Virtual Vehicle platform into Kenworth trucks using factory-installed telematics hardware. vehicle, etc.) JAVASCRIPT IS DISABLED. 945 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<37BAF6D55ADF124382CB24C4417C0A4B><83C917919D77EB4E91CD4A0E46DD1A25>]/Index[929 32]/Info 928 0 R/Length 79/Prev 122727/Root 930 0 R/Size 961/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream A Vehicle Technician inspects and repairs vehicles so they run safely, efficiently and reliably. Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive vehicles. PTO days? Mechanical skills. Most Likely Range. The Job Outlook tab describes the factors that affect employment growth or decline in the occupation, and in some instances, describes the relationship between the number of job seekers and the number of job openings. 1 tech x 40 att. (2016). Technician A says that the CVT shifts from gear-to-gear, up and down, as needed to maintain optimal speed and torque. 17 Service, repair and fault diagnostics work on all vehicles. Change is coming to U.S. energy policies Tim joined Babcox Media in 1990 and spent 31. The Maintenance Staffing Calculator is an Excel tool consisting of seven worksheets. Your IP: In total, more than 60 agencies of varying size were surveyed. As a former cop who spent a number of years managing, and is now doing driving / training for the past year and a half in my retirement, I've relished the opportunity to work in and learn about this great service industry. 4 0 obj a. The secure and easy all-access connection to your content. endstream endobj startxref The methodology is used to equate the level of effort required to maintain dissimilar types of vehicles to a passenger car, which is given a baseline VEU (sometimes called a maintenance repair unit or MRU) of 1.0. To accomplish this objective, a review of fleet and staffing data from 321 transit agencies in the National Transit Database were analyzed and 2 rounds of in-depth interviews with transit agencies were conducted to identify main factors driving technician staffing levels. Diesel service technicians and mechanics inspect, repair, and overhaul buses, trucks, or any vehicle with a diesel engine. They also work on smaller consumer-grade lawn and garden tractors. (2016). Additional training needed (postemployment) to attain competency in the skills needed in this occupation. Advanced Member, Brad Barker The top KPIs affecting your profit and how to grow each one of them. Some high-performance vehicles have firmer steering than other similar vehicles. To answer the question of vehicles to technicians ratios, I suggest that you look at previous averages, set a goal so at the end of the day you can perform like a leasing company, which is lean, not so mean, and efficient. Of course you do. Because vehicle and equipment technology is increasingly sophisticated and computerized, some employers prefer to hire service technicians who have completed a training program at a postsecondary institution. We are at about 23 buses per mechanic, and even though we have a number of A/C equipped buses we make it work because of our relatively new fleet. If someone determines that the body count is too high, you may be asked to defend your staff. The average number of wrench-turning labor hours each mechanic on staff can produce (i.e., labor supply). Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians must be familiar with diagnostic equipment to find the source of malfunctions. agency must have the appropriate number and class of vehicles to handle trip demand. The reason the question is asked often comes from managements assumption that the shop has too many peoplebecause the costs are running high. Even with the responses to the surveys, the study yielded limited correlative data. For more details about job openings for heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians, consult local heavy and mobile equipment dealers and distributors, construction contractors, and government agencies. Mall, K., & Sekera, J. Work experience that is commonly considered necessary by employers, or is a commonly accepted substitute for more formal types of training or education. (180 degrees) on a vehicle equipped with a steering gear with a 20:1 gear ratio. Technician a says the drive chain may be stretched, causing the noise as it hits the inside of the case. We respect your data and privacy. can help cut diesel fuel costs, Peterbilt GM Jason Skoog charts todays truck support, tomorrows truck solutions, Diesel engine filtration tips for better fuel efficiency, U.S. Bank: Truck freight volumes continue to decline, Significant increase in TL spot rates observed for early 2023. Typical level of education that most workers need to enter this occupation. While mechanics are typically paid for 2,080 hours per year, exclusive of overtime (52 weeks x 40 hours per week), they are clearly not available to work on vehicles this number of hours. The below graph illustrates how this technique works, reflecting VEU values based on Mercury Associates experience with hundreds of fleets across North America. Public Works fleets with a concentration of trucks and construction equipment clearly would be higher in age, while law enforcement fleets typically would be lower. MY IDEA HAS ALWAYS BEEN THAT PEOPLE DON'T HAVE TO BE ROCKET SCIENTIEST, JUST HAVE A GOOD ATTITUDE AND BE WILLING TO LEARN. Asian women: 1.7%. endstream Aircraft and avionics equipment mechanics and technicians repair and perform scheduled maintenance on aircraft. Ou)d}`z)UYQ(VBfbMiQ8 GM Vehicles +25.86% salary. However, there was significant variation across agencies in regards to most variables examined. These numbers represent the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users. Geotab announces Data Connector for business insights, Three autonomous truck aspects to start seriously considering, EVs roll into the data-centric Geotab Connect 2023, Frito-Lay transforms California facility into showcase for sustainability. Mechanics who work primarily on motorboats, motorcycles, and small all-terrain vehicles are described in the profile on small engine mechanics. The average hourly pay for an Automotive Technician is $19.19. Trainees advance to more complex work as they show competence, and they usually become fully qualified after 3 to 4 years of work.