February 24, 1999
Nuts & bolts of maintaining 200 vehicles
By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
It takes more than one Mr. Fix-it or a single Mr. Goodwrench to keep a fleet of 200 vehicles running and on the road. Instead it takes several master mechanics, dozens of shop manuals and business hours that don't end at 5 p.m.
As fleet manager for the Traverse City Department of Public Service, Rich Durkin knows first-hand the importance of preventative maintenance. Whether replacing worn bearings in a compost turner drum or brake pads in a police cruiser, there is no such thing as a slow day at the city garage.
"Our operation runs from 8 a.m. to midnight to support and keep more than 200 vehicles on the road all year-long," Durkin said.
Explaining day-to day operations, Durkin noted that the garage is "basically a business within the city." While other departments operate out of the general fund, the city garage funds come from service charges. The garage also owns equipment such as snow plows, fire engines, police cars and Light and Power trucks; all which are leased to various departments on a monthly basis. Other revenue sources include the sale of fuel to city and other government municipals and contract work on Munson Medical Center North Flight ambulances.
Keeping up with a fleet of this magnitude not only requires a good deal of elbow grease, but plenty of elbow room.
Within the ? square feet shop is a tire repair area, a $100,000 parts inventory room, a washrack area and a Harley-Davidson repair shop that presently houses two 1999 city police motorcycles and a lunchroom grill for shop employees.
"The nice thing about the job is that you're not doing the same thing everyday. One day you might be working on lawnmowers, then the next day a grader or working in an aerial bucket 50 feet off the ground," said Durkin, during a tour of the city garage Friday morning.
While this repair work offers plenty of diversity, it also requires a fair amount of routine. During the winter months, each plow truck is inspected at the end of a shift from the underbody plow blade to roof-mounted warning lights. The garage also conducts an annual inspection where each piece of equipment is thoroughly tested before its season in the sun, or snow.
"You always try to stay a season ahead," said Durkin, who noted that the snow plow trucks are brought in during the months of September and October.
The department, however, must not only stay in step with changing seasons but technology as well . To aid in this effort a "paperless" computer system tracks each piece of equipment by engine size, transmission, hours, miles and complete repair history.
Keeping up with technology can also mean going back to school. Durkin noted that recently two mechanics attended a week-long Harley-Davidson school in Milwaukee on maintenance and repair of the new twin-cam engine.
There are times, though, when old-fashion ingenuity proves valuable as any high-tech training. Sometimes it is fabricating a custom-size trailer, or reinforcing plow stress points. It can even be something as simple as adding a few washers to reduce the speed of a snow chute on a sidewalk blower.
"Why reinvent the wheel if you can use someone else's success story," noted Durkin, who works closely with the American Public Works Association and other cities on solving equipment problems.
Problem-solving is also an intricate part of Scott Meteer's day. As the city garage's chief mechanic since 1985, Meteer has learned that each piece of equipment operates by its own idiosyncrasies.
"You learn what is high maintenance. An item like a composter you're never going to win there so you make things as durable as you can," Meteer said.
"You're never totally ahead in this business, because even brand new trucks breakdown. You just try to stay at a good even."