System in Mixed Fleet Maintenance
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How the Transport Departrnentof Bradford Electricity Undertaking Tackles a Complex Problem
HOW the problem of applying systematic maintenance to a large and mixed fleet of commercial vehicles has been met in the transport department of Bradford Corporations' electricity undertaking, was explained by Mr. F. Wood, the undertaking's transport manager, at a recent meeting of the Yorkshire Transport Society.
The system which he had devised was simple, he said. It catered for a fleet of 55 vehicles, ranging from 5-ewt, vans to ff-ton articulated tower wagons. The fleet included tipping lorries for the transport of coal and ashes, two tracklaying grabbing cranes, a mobile petrolelectric crane, and mobile compressors. The oldest vehicle was a 1929 Leyland Bison, and most were of 1934, 1936 and 937 vintage, of many different makes.
Five Maintenance Groups
For maintenance purposes, the vehicles were divided into five groups of II each, arranged so that the numbers of large and small vehicles were approximately the same in each group. On each of the five nights of the working week one of the groups had its turn of weekly inspection, 1114 together with routine maintenance and, if necessary, miner repairs_ The programmes for this work were drawn up daily by reference toi the maintenance and record of each vehicle due to be dealt with, and the drivers' daily report sheets, which gave latest mileages and indicated points which the driver had noticed as calling for attention.
The .maintenance and record card gave particulars of the mileages at which various maintenance jobs had to be carried out and details as to when they had been done previously. Although maintenance operations in a mixed fleet were different for each make of vehicle, a little give and take had mark it possible to arrange that similar jobs, such as brake examinations, took place at the same mileages.
On the other hand, some vehicles had items of their own, such as shock absorbers on the smaller models, oil reservoirs on hydraulic braking systems, wire ropes on tower wagons, and so forth_ If the weekly inspection revealed any fault which could not he quickly rectified, an "Under repairs" notice was hung on the front, and the rest of the night's work completed. The vehicle remained in the garage until the fault was cleared.
The Evidence
I3efore going off duty in the morning, the night fitters detailed in a log book the job that they had done apart from routine maintenance. The fitters on day work also did so, and these items were later written up on the vehicle record cards.
Engine overhauls were not carried out at rigid mileage intervals, Mr. Wood agreed that the mileage basis was best for some kinds of operation, as in the case of road passenger transport but conditions in his own department were such. that he preferred to rely on a careful and regular check on petrol and oil consumption for guidance as to when overhauls should be carried ant.