One fitter to 70 trucks!
Page 53
Page 54
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Owning 38,000 trucks influences vehicle design
HOW many fitters do you need to maintain a fleet of 70 maximum-capacity heavies—three, four, five, six or seven? In a guessing game of this kind if you applied any of these numbers to Ryder Truck Rental of Miami, Florida, which plans to enter the vehicle renting and leasing market in Britain (see page 18), you would be wrong. In the USA, Ryder's maintenance operations work on a ratio of just one fitter to 70 vehicles and the company anticipates the time when it will become one to every 110.
How can this be achieved? Ryder's answer lies in two broad principles of policy—to buy quality vehicles to its own specifications and to provide back-up opares and maintenance facilities which ensure that the vehicles are, so far as possible, always in a superb condition.
Back in August 1969, J. C. Paterson of Ryder System Inc., gave a paper to the Society of Automotive Engineers in Seattle entitled "The 500,000-mile chassis—what is it worth?" The title gives a good indication of Ryder thinking and suggests why this concern, with 38,000 trucks on the roads in the USA and 320 company-owned workshops coast-to-coast, is the biggest and probably, the most successful of its kind in the world today. Admittedly there are bigger American vehicle leasing organizations but these base their operations solely on financial considerations and do not involve themselves in the back-up facilities which constitute the big difference with Ryder.
All the leading American heavy vehicle makers build to a Ryder specification, from the premium truck builders like Kenworth to the mass producers like GM, Ford and 1H. The reason is that over the years Ryder' has conducted the most exacting
by Eric Gibbins, mcn
investigations into every feature of a vehicle's specification, experimenting, checking, assessing, until it knows which type of component is the optimum. If it costs more initially, then Ryder's case for Cost savings over the component's life is hard to fault.
Settling the specs—and standards
Ryder has a purchasing and engineering maintenance committee which is responsible for deciding on the specification and ordering of vehicles. Two years ago the Ryder organization was heavily involved in the formulation by' the American Trucking Association of a programme for the American trucking industry called Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards (VMRS for short). This established common standards amongst truck manufacturers for certain features of heavy vehicle specifications with a particular reference to the safety aspects. One of its points is that dashboard equipment and layout follow a prescribed pattern irrespective of vehicle make; emergency controls and switches are now located in the same places so that a driver who changes from one make of truck to another is less likely to "fumble" in an emergency through not being able quickly to find the control switch or knob he is seeking.
So as to keep a check on performance of both vehicles and their component parts Ryder has developed a system of standard operating costs. Costs are plotted over a three-year truck life and are broken down to a degree where Ryder knows at any given time the level of, say, vehicle light bulb costs and those of windscreen wipers as well as major components such as engines, gearboxes and axles. It is this painstaking care that has enabled Ryder to build up a pattern for truck purchase which permits the organization to select the optimum component offered on the market.
Seeking maximum utilization
It is, of course, a continuous exercise for Ryder is involved in the ATA's cost comparison system which works in broadly the same way as the Road Haulage Association's Interfirrn Comparison cost exercise, save that this ATA scheme permits valid comparisons between the operating costs of similar trucks in different fleets. The basic information on vehicles and their component parts is fed into a computer bank so that the data can be compared with other people's figures and the average. This permits problem areas to be picked out and dealt with. Ryder acts positively on these findings. Whenever the statistics show higher-than-average cost figures an investigation into the cause follows and modifications are made or a replacement component fitted. Mr Tom Mannix, Ryder's manager of research and engineering, who has been over here in Britain helping with the setting up of the British Ryder operation, ran through some of the features which have been fitted as a result of these exercises and distinguish the Ryder vehicle specification from the standard outfit. With all of the differences, extras, innovations —call them what you will—there is the • underlying aim of achieving maximum vehicle utilization. In short the goal is the 500,000-mile, no-maintenance chassis, and everything, commensurate with its cost, is aimed at achieving this.
The cabs on Ryder vehicles follow the VMRS code on dashboard layout, and Ryder has developed a maintenance alert system which consists of a dashboard red light panel, each light in the bank being there to indicate a possible malfunction of a particular component or part of the vehicle's operating system. The aim, of course, is to give early warning of a problem such as engine overheating caused by inadequate cooling or lubrication to prevent a major component failure.
Long -life components
There are any number of long-life components in a Ryder specification in the USA. A typical example is the Donaldson Cyclopac air cleaner—life 250,000 miles. This has a Duralife element which overcomes the problem of the filter holes becoming clogged by carbon deposits by being chemically treated to loosen the carbon deposits as they form; it costs three dollars more than a normal unit possessing nothing like the same life span as the Duralife.
Another long-life feature is the Delco 15-year life battery specified. This is completely sealed save for a tiny bleeder hole in one side, is corrosion free and features use of "plug-in" terminals at the side of the battery. This sealed-for-life unit costs twice that of a standard modern battery but its merit is obvious.
Radiator hoses are of a specification to last the life of the vehicle. Made of reinforced silicone rubber they cost more initially but the overall cost compares very favourably with the replacing of normal hoses every year to 18 months. Add to this the fact that the chance of in-service failure (perhaps caused by faulty workmanship on hose replacement) is less with the premium unit and the merits stand out more clearly 'still.
Another Ryder feature is the fitment of automatic tyre inflators. These are of special significance to the vehicle carrying dangerous loads because they can keep a tyre inflated* to a reasonable pressure level even when it is badly holed. A simple specification feature which makes sound sense is to paint all wheels white so as to reveal faults such as cracks in the wheels. loose studs and other failures which do not show up so easily on units with'clark paint.
Yet again, to improve engine breathing and reduce exhaust smoke emission, valves can be fitted in drill holes in the exhaust manifold and linked to the air system. These have the effect of supplying extra air to aid combustion.
Some of the areas investigated by Ryder reveal the company's advanced ways of thinking. Fibre optics are regarded as suitable replacement for dashboard light bulbs, while flat wire circuitry of the type developed in space research is regarded as having a big potential to reduce wiring failures.
It goes without saying perhaps that Ryder fits automatic chassis lubrication and features tailor-made Kysor radiator shutter systems to control cooling of the Cummins engines which Ryder specifies throughout its fleet.
These are just a few of the special features of Ryder vehicle specifications, but they reflect Ryder's way of thinking. The concepts revealed are also taken a stage beyond the normal in pre-service testing where the latest equipment is used for vehicle inspections. A leak detector is, for example, employed to test air brake systems. The effectiveness of this was demonstrated when a completely new design of tractive unit was delivered and the equipment found no fewer than 13 air leaks on the machine—much to the embarrassment of the vehicle manufacturer concerned. Special equipment for bodywork inspections includes an electronically operated water leak detector and a wide variety of other equipment of a similar specialized nature is employed to test other parts and vehicle components.
Maintained on demand
In Mr Paterson's SAE paper on the long-life chassis he commented that a major portion of maintenance would be done on a demand basis. Components, he said, would be designed so that maintenance could be performed on the service island, not in the shop. Examples of this would be engine and transmission oil or rear axle lubricant which would be changed when conditions indicated rather than at some specific mileage. Two years have passed since this comment, and it is interesting to note that Ryder at the service islands at its latest depots in the USA is half-way at least to this concept, with fuel pumps which can fuel the tanks of a vehicle on both sides of the chassis at the same time and that oil, lubrication and water, including anti-freeze, can be dispensed from these open-air service bays.
Automatic checking
Pointers to the future and the way Ryder is going are there in plenty in Mr Paterson's paper and it is appropriate to conclude with a quotation which sets out clearly the way ahead: "The no-maintenance chassis will have many little sensors, or transmitters, on it. These units will electronically signal the service island attendant when attention is needed to such items as water, oil, grease levels, air pressures, air leaks, lamp replacements, filter changes and many others. Visualize, if you will a big 'scoreboard' full of lights, at the service island. In comes a tractor, and several lights go on. Electronically it is telling the service island attendant that it is time to change oil and the air filter. It is also telling him, because the other lights did not go on, that all the other systems are on 'go' and do not need attention. This would be maintenance on a demand basis. How much would it be worth if we never had to check tyre pressures, to check oil, to check the grease and water levels, and to check the light system to see that all lights are burning?
"To be completely successful, we must have standardization for all makes; quick exchange design for engines, transmissions, alternators, starters, lamps, valves, and many other components to reduce inventory and to improve availability and serviceability.
"Mechanic specialization will become a reality. Highly trained mechanics will be better utilized at the higher skilled work levels, full time, rather than working part time on the highly skilled items and part time on minor work."