Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/782964
40 commercial carrier journal | february 2017 All of the reports in the BI portal came from Rapid Improvement Events in the Lean Six Sigma structure and were facilitated by a "black belt" who brought together cross-functional resources from di erent departments, says Paula Logan, vice president of continuous improve- ment for U.S. Xpress. Hover boxes are used in all reports to show users the formula and de nitions of the values in each row and column. By doing this, there is never any guessing about what each value means or how it is derived, Seibenhener says. A Tractor Velocity Report shows the number of "Dispatched" and "Available" trucks, among many other metrics. e report is used in a number of ways to increase asset utilization. Mead used the live report on Jan. 11 as an example. "I see that our dedicated divi- sion has 55 trucks available, unseated, for an average of 136 hours," he says. "When (operations) are hollering for trucks, I can say 'Timeout. You already have trucks. You just need to go get these trucks.' " As with other portal reports, the Trac- tor Velocity Report separates metrics into di erent sections or buckets. Each section uses a di erent color to represent the per- son who is responsible for the metrics. All of the reports have a button in the top-right corner that says: "USAGE last 7 days." Clicking on this shows how fre- quently employees have used the report to drive accountability. One section in the Tractor Velocity Report is "Unseated Trucks—Shop." Two of the metrics here show the number of trucks in U.S. Xpress' dedicated and over- the-road divisions that have been in the shop for more than 24 hours. Users can nd out why the trucks are in the shop and take actions to improve e ciency. Another report, Standard Repair Times, shows how e ciently the shops are completing repairs. Each type of repair is represented by an icon that is col- ored green, yellow or red depending on how the average repair time is trending in relation to the eet's SRT. By clicking on the icon for battery repair, a user could see the technicians who exceeded the SRT, along with their location and other details. e report also shows trends that need to be addressed. Changing PMs One of the most important reports for Mead shows failures that occur between preventive maintenance events. e company currently is 92 percent e cient, meaning only 8 percent of its trucks return to shops between PMs. Mead and others have used this report to make 24 adjustments to its PM services to reduce downtime and maximize e ciencies. One report automatically noti es eet managers when their trucks are 5,000 miles away from a scheduled PM. e report color-codes trucks in yellow when they are due for service in 2,500 miles. Trucks grouped in red are overdue, and managers are expected to get them to a shop within 24 hours. e maintenance department also uses a BI report that identi es failure trends based on mileages, driver longevity and vehicle speci cation. e report helps to determine which parts should be replaced during a PM service before they fail. U.S. Xpress recently began replacing a shock on a certain vehicle spec, Mead says. Other bene ts Bene ts of the BI system have been wide- spread. One result is a dramatic increase in response time by eet maintenance during the last 18 months. When drivers and vendors call to report a breakdown or discuss a purchase order, transactions happen quickly to keep trucks moving. Overall, the average number of days that trucks are in the shop following an accident has dropped from 30 days to under seven. e time that trucks are in shops for repairs has decreased from more than seven days to less than four, Mead says. With a eet of 7,000 trucks, the num- ber of trucks with overdue PMs is in the single digits. ese and other improve- ments have increased asset utilization and generated millions in extra revenue. "We are seeing more of that collabora- tion, relationship-building and teaching of others throughout the organization," Seibenhener says. CC J I N N O VATO R S pro les carriers and eets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking's challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact Je Crissey at jcrissey@ccjmagazine.com or 800-633-5953. Gerry Mead, left, senior vice president of maintenance for U.S. Xpress, and Je Seibenhener, chief information o cer, worked together to create a true lifecycle costing system for assets. U.S. Xpress' operations and maintenance departments use BI tools to improve as- set utilization. One report, Standard Repair Times, shows how e ciently the shops are complet- ing repairs.