Maintenance SOP 031: Vehicle Health Monitoring

Purpose 

This procedure provides information for maintenance technicians for use of the ITS system during pull-out or at the start of their shift. The process covers monitoring vehicle health alerts, specific pre-trip information in the myAvail maintenance tab, using the system to provide efficient daily maintenance support. 

Operational Impact and Metrics

Operational Impact: The ETMS system streamlines several maintenance tasks to support pull-out and helps identify and address problems that effect on-time performance. Maintenance can monitor and respond to vehicle health alerts, pre-trip failures, and create work orders to address issues that may prevent pullout needs, such as providing vehicles to service all scheduled service.  

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  

Frequency

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

Positions 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).  

Please review related workflow SOPs below for dispatch/ Operations.

Procedure  

1. Log into ETMS, navigate to Operations and open the Launch Dispatch card
2. Review the Maintenance queue and Business Intelligence reporting for trending VHM events, pretrip failures, etc., to best formulate vehicle health issues and work order needs
3. Create action plans around issues requiring resolution
4. Number badges, if visible, indicate items are in the maintenance queue are waiting to be addressed
5. 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. These items will automatically move to maintenance reports for later review, too

• 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 data 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 Queue:

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 if further action is required 

Log with Incident Process:  

IMPORTANT NOTE: The workflow for incident tracking and using Decision Support Tools is most commonly managed by dispatch.

Decision Support & Incidents

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

Transit Assets Work Orders

If integrated with Transit Assets Work Orders, use the built- in link to create a Work Order in ETMS.

Review more about work orders in ETMS here: Automatic Creation of Work Order from an Incident

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 

Maintenance Inoperable Vehicles & Work Orders

• Identify inoperable vehicles or vehicles that need to be held for work. If using ETMS Work Orders, the status of the WO can be tracked for inoperable vehicles, work order type, and to notify staff who manage the Yard Map and vehicle assignments
• In yard map, enter bus number, location, and status 
• Monitor the ‘maintenance’ queue and address issues (goal is all ITS equipment is functional before leaving the yard)   

Supporting Documents  

Related SOPs 

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