UPT IME
A fi rst-hand look at a contracted maintenance provider
off ers insights into the benefi ts and challenges.
I recently had the opportunity to visit a
national drugstore chain’s maintenance facility
run by contracted service provider Transervice
Logistics, for some insight while researching
this month’s cover story When does it make sense
to outsource maintenance? (page 10).
For this retailer, Transervice oversees on-site
maintenance for the 3,350 leased pieces of
equipment at 16 diff erent distribution center
locations, all running a similar dedicated maintenance
8 Fleet Maintenance | May 2018
operation to the one I visited.
Assistant Vice President Gino Fontana, who
oversees all contracted services for this retailer
on behalf of Transervice, gave me the grand
tour of the facility in southcentral Wisconsin.
It gave me perspective on understanding that
dedicated contract maintenance facilities are
really just like any other maintenance facility.
But, I also got details on the types of benefi ts
contracted on-site maintenance can provide,
particularly to a medium- to large-sized fl eet.
Similar operations
Operations manager Clint Starin, who has
worked for Transervice more than 20 years,
oversees three shops in three diff erent states:
Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio. And even though
those locations are all in the Midwest, the
microclimates for each location still require
some unique maintenance approaches.
“Wisconsin versus southern Illinois, you
wouldn’t think it’s a big deal, but the climate
is a lot diff erent,” Starin says. “Th ey get snow
a couple times a year. Up here, it’s a lot more.
Th ere’s a huge diff erence.”
“Th ese guys are trying to bring a set of standardized
approaches to a world that has a lot
of dynamics,” Fontana adds, of the diff erent
Transervice maintenance locations. “Th ey’re
just trying to ... provide the same level of
service regardless of location.”
It’s also true that diff erent areas of the country
require diff erent equipment and component
spec’ing and maintenance practices.
Some examples of changes they’ve made at
the Wisconsin location include:
Comprehensive wheel program – For the
Wisconsin location I visited, Starin worked
with Michigan-based A2G Wheels to include
a protective synthetic Corsol coating on wheel
ends through a polymer galvanization process.
“If you sent them out to a wheel guy, they
would sandblast them and powder coat them,”
Starin says, of traditional wheels. “We usually
would get a year out of them. Th ese, they put a
fi ve-year warranty used or 10-year warranty
new. I’ve had very little warranty issues.”
Updates to trailers – Transervice added a
galvanized frame and cross members to help
combat corrosion on trailers at this location.
In addition, the fl eet spec’d a quick-removal
frame system on trailer sides, from Kwik-Zip,
which allows the fl eet to easily change out the
message on the sides of trailers.
Fontana says the customer expressed interest
in tracking trailer assets, and Transervice assisted
with fi nding the right vendor and coordinating
the install. “We helped identify the right
vendor and had them come in on the weekend
while the trailers were here,” he explains.
Coolant warmer – Th is location recently
added a Webasto coolant heater for quicker
engine warm-ups, especially during winter
months. “Instead of plugging the trucks in
in the winter, you can turn these on from the
cab,” Starin says. “It’s a little boiler, basically.
It warms up the coolant before you operate
the truck.”
Training focus
Like many fl eet maintenance facilities, this
operation focuses on comprehensive training
for its technicians both to ensure service
consistency, and to properly diagnose issues.
“It’s one thing to change a part. If a battery
in the truck is dead, you change the battery,”
Fontana says. “But why did it die? Drilling
down into those root causes is where you can
save the customer some money and keep the
truck on the road. If you didn’t fi x the root
cause, the next battery is going to die and the
truck will break down. It’s another road call,
it’s more money.”
Due to the complexity of vehicles and equipment,
Fontana advises technician responsibilities
are becoming more of a hybrid between
generalist and specialty skillsets. All technicians
have the ability to work on numerous
areas of the tractor or trailer, but may also excel
or receive additional training in a specifi c area
such as suspension, diagnostics or electrical.
“Technology is a huge piece to try to keep up
with and continually train the crew,” Fontana
says. “We put a big emphasis on it, but it’s not
like something where you did it and you’re
done. It’s like cutting the grass. Next week,
you get to it again. You just have to continue
to build on it.”
Advantages in action
To allow the fl eet to run on-schedule, technicians
at these locations must be fl exible with
the schedule as to when general maintenance
and repairs can be completed. Typically, the
maintenance shop is loosely running second
shift – with most techs on-hand nights and
weekends – to make sure regular maintenance
and PMs are completed when the trucks aren’t
in operation.
“Th ey want someone here when they leave,
and when they’re coming home,” Fontana
explains. “We build our shift s around those
three factors: when are you leaving, when are
you coming home and when is this equipment
sitting.”
Transervice makes the decision on the equipment
the fl eet will run, based on thorough
analysis of market options and the needs of
the customer. But, Fontana advises this is with
full transparency to the customer.
“We’re pretty agnostic when it comes to equipment,”
he says. “Every year, we’ll go through a
review of what’s happening in the marketplace.
We look at how the equipment that’s in service
has been performing. We just put in Peterbilts
– we’ll look at how they’re doing, what’s the
total cost to maintain them, fuel costs, driver
acceptance, reliability breakdowns we’ve been
seeing. And we evaluate that.
“Our job is to know the diff erences with
OEs,” Fontana continues. “What worked last
year, how they did in the fi eld, performance,
maintenance, all of that. Th en what’s coming
up. Th at’s what we present to the customer.”
Constant feedback
One challenge to outsourcing maintenance to
a contract service provider can be maintaining
an open dialogue with the fl eet manager.
Ops manager Starin works closely with the
fl eet manager to advise on current issues and
provide suggestions on updates.
Building relationships and constant communication
with drivers is also critical, because
it keeps dialogue open on identifying vehicle
issues early on and allows the fl eet the opportunity
to educate and train drivers on proper
procedures and changes.
“It really comes down to customers looking
to focus on their core business, and leveraging
the power of the vendor network, and the
buying power we have, and leveraging the
expertise,” Fontana says.
Like any other
maintenance facility
By Erica
Schueller
Editor-in-chief
» Equipment
and component
requirements differ
by facility location.
Due to higher levels
of corrosion in this
Wisconsin-based
location, trailers
are outfitted
with a galvanized
frame and cross
members to help
combat this issue.
Photo courtesy of E.Schueller