Maintenance SOP 031: Vehicle Health Monitoring

Purpose 

This procedure provides information for maintenance technicians to use the CAD/AVL system during pull-out or at the start of their shift. This procedure assumes the schedule has been pushed to the onboard CAD/AVL system. The process covers monitoring vehicle health alerts, specific pre-trip information in the myAvail maintenance tab, and using the system to provide efficient daily maintenance support. 

Operational Impact and Metrics

Operational Impact: The CAD/AVL system streamlines several maintenance tasks to support pull-out and helps identify and address problems and improve on-time performance. Maintenance will monitor and respond to vehicle health alerts and pre-trip failure events to meet all scheduled service levels.  

Metrics: Pull-out %, On-time performance, Vehicle Health Monitoring Reports.  100% of vehicles leaving the yard should be logged in with functional ITS equipment  

Definitions  

ITS  Intelligent Transportation Systems 
CAD/AVL  Computer-Aided Dispatch and Automatic Vehicle Location 
Block  All the routes run by a vehicle 
MDT  Mobile Data Terminal 

Frequency

Daily at pull-out, and/or start of each shift 

Roles and Responsibilities 

Implementation of this SOP is primarily the responsibility of Vehicle Mechanics/Technicians.  Maintenance Supervisors should also be familiar with these procedures to provide informed support for technicians (see SP-033-01).  

Dispatcher responsibilities at Pull-out/Start of Shift are covered in the parallel SP-011-01, and Operator responsibilities at Pull-out/Start of Shift are covered in the parallel SP-020-01

Procedure  

  1. Log into myAvail to access the Operations tab
  2. Review, and monitor, the Maintenance tab for VHM events (see also SP-031-01 Maintenance Vehicle Health Monitoring) , pretrip failures, ITS issues
  3. Review, and monitor, the Events tab- some maintenance events may populate here, too ( e.g. pretrip failures)
  4. Create action plans around events and issues requiring resolution
  5. The number badges, if visible, indicate items are in the queue waiting to be managed
  6. Items that have been in the queue for a configurable amount of time, typically more than 15 minutes, are highlighted in yellow to alert you 
  • Identify current maintenance messages 
  • Use filter for dates, priorities, types; use to determine area of focus 

Handle a Routine Event:

  1. Select an event (vehicle record) to manage it
  2. Click “Take” 
  3. Click “Log” after creating related work orders, etc., if needed, and no additional action should be taken
  4. The event record files away to BI Maintenance reports

Monitor and Manage Pre-Trip Information in Maintenance Tab:

  1. Click “Take" for the event/ vehicle record 
  2. Create work orders, assign tasking, etc., as needed
  3. Click “Log” after identifying required action 
  4. The vehicle record is removed from the queue and is filed in BI Maintenance reports
  5. Use the "Log with Incident" button is further action is required 

Log with Incident Process:  

Is further action needed, such as vehicle swaps, service adjustments, accident reporting, operator changes? Use the Log with Incident function:

Log with Incident:

  1. Click "Log with Incident" if additional action is required (service adjustments, accident, break downs, vehicle swaps, etc.)
  2. This action will automatically tag related vehicle data such as:  Vehicle Id, Run, Route, Trip, Stop, Operator, Location, Time
  3. ETMS auto-launches/opens to the Vehicle Incidents screen
  4. Fill in fields on the Basic Information tab ( Incident Title- is required, Description, etc.)
  5. Enter additional information on the 2nd sub-tab (Vehicle Incident type, Vehicle Problem Code)
  6. Use the Replay Tool button to replay a set of minutes leading up to the event/ the bread crumb trail from the vehicle, as needed
  7. Enter related Notes on the 3rd sub-tab (software tracks all notations via a timestamp)
    • Use the Attachment button to upload related documentation (PDFs, etc.)
  8. Use the 4th sub-tab to document vehicle replacements and any missed/resumed service (software will auto- calculate the adjustment differences for you)
  9. Use the Optional field to alert involved vehicle operators
  10. Use the 5th sub-tab to document road calls
  11. Select the Save button when done   
  12. Incident is stored on the main screen ( can be edited by personnel with the permissions included in their accounts)
  13. Locate incident and open incident to edit: includes the ability to update incident status, reassign it, add additional notes/documentation as information is gathered, etc.) 
  14. Use send text feature to communicate with operator if needed 

Create Incident and Automatically Tag Work Order:

In software version 8.3+, work orders can be created from an incident, if configured. Follow the process outlines in Automatic Creation of Work Orders from Incidents

Daily Maintenance Support 

  • Identify inoperable buses or buses that need to be held for work 
  • In yard map, enter bus number, location, and status 
  • Monitor the ‘maintenance’ tab and radio for issues (goal is all ITS equipment is functional before leaving the yard)   

Supporting Documents  

Related SOPs 

  1. SP-001-01 Planner – Schedule Data Management and Implementation 
  2. SP-031-01 Maintenance – Vehicle Health Monitoring 
  3. SP-032-01 Maintenance – CAD-AVL Preventive Maintenance 
  4. SP-033-01 Maintenance – Supervision and Management 
  5. SP-011-01 Dispatch – Pull-out/Start of Shift 
  6. SP-020-01 Operation – Pull-out/Start of Shift 
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