I’ve been doing a lot of interstate driving of late, visiting shops, and I figure I must have somehow missed hearing about the federal mandate that if you drive on an interstate highway, you must do something in addition to driving while behind the wheel, preferable talk on a cell phone, check your e-mail on a handheld device, do text messaging or use an in-cab satellite communication devices.

It was very rare for me to spot someone just driving.

A lot has been made of distracted driving, especially the contribution of mobile communication devices.

Driver distractions are nothing new. You may be interested to know that they’ve been a topic of discussion since windshield wipers were introduced in cars during the early 1900s.

Distractions take away a driver’s attention to the all-important task of driving. This lack of focus increases the likelihood of accidents.

Inattention inhibits a driver’s ability to react to what’s going on ahead and around them.

Nowadays there are many more distractions. Aside from communicating while mobile, we eat and drink behind the wheel, perform grooming functions, read, make to-do lists, fiddle with the CD player, CB or two-way radio, ad nauseam. But bird watching?

A recent mishap occurred in La Marque, TX, which is about 35 miles southeast of Houston, that involved a bird, a cell phone and a million-dollar sports.

A man told police he was driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when a low-flying pelican distracted him, which caused him to drop his cell phone, which caused him to reach to pick it up, which caused him to veer off the road, which caused him to drive into the salt marsh. The car settled half-submerged in the brine. 

While common sense can’t be dictated, it’s high time that we minimize ALL distractions and focus on the safe driving. Oh . . . and don’t become mesmerized with birds.

The advance of technology never ceases to amaze me, although it constantly overwhelms me.

Engineers can now see sound? You heard me right.

Ford Motor Company is using a new technology that allows engineers to actually see unwanted sounds and eliminate them during vehicle development. The objective: to ensure that its new vehicles have the quietest interior cabins.

Ford is the first automaker in North America to use the new Noise Vision tool - a small sphere equipped with more than 30 highly sensitive microphones and 12 special cameras that is placed inside the vehicle cabin.

Powerful software reads data from Noise Vision and creates a computerized image showing interior noise “hot spots,” including wind noise, a squeak or rattle or unwanted feedback from the engine or the road.

Vehicle engineers say the key element to interior quietness is to pinpoint the source and location of every unwanted sound.

When it comes to car buying, third-party customer satisfaction studies show that automobile owners connect an ultra-quiet cabin with overall product quality and satisfaction, and quietness is one of the top reasons to buy a vehicle.

Ford used to rely on trial and error to make a vehicle quieter, using a process of elimination. Noise Vision literally shows engineers where the noise is and allows them to eliminate it once and for all.

No doubt Noise Vision type tools will find their way to other vehicle manufacturers.

I think vehicle engineers have been dong a very good job of making vehicles quieter through the process-of-elimination technique. Today’s vehicles are considerably tighter and quieter than the cars and trucks I drove way back in the late 1970s.

I wonder what technology has in store for us next? Got any ideas?

Frequently, sports analogies are used in business. Football seems to be the most used sport.

The most recent use of the football-business comparison that I came across was keynote address by Daimler Trucks North America’s senior vice president of parts Jack Conlan to the recent Technical & Maintenance Council Fall Meeting and National Skills Competition - TMC SuperTech 2009.

His talk entitled, “Driving from the Red Zone to the End Zone,” outlined five key “plays”  to developing and maintaining a winning game plan for 2010.

“2010 will be the time to execute proven plays at the line of scrimmage. It won’t be a time of improvising, last minute audibles or Hail Mary’s,” said Conlan. “By developing and maintaining renewed levels of discipline, experience, preparation, partnership and transparency, 2010 will simply become the time to drive the ball into the emissions ‘end zone,’ safely and profitably for your companies, your teams and the entire industry.”

His five game winning principles:

- No time for costly penalties. A team must maintain a “disciplined approach” to get to the end zone so as not to waste time on costly penalties. He suggested developing  operational metrics that are transparent to all managers so they can be involved and open to solving problems as they occur.

- Go with the best prepared players. He said now is not the time to question if one of your “players” has had the right training or not. Partner with manufacturers, suppliers and technologies that not only meet the standards, but exceed them.

- Winning coaches value experience. In the current high-stakes environment, do not underestimate the value of experience and proven outcomes.

- Have all the right gear and equipment. Now is not the time to question if you, or your service provider, has the right tools and parts available. All of the appropriate “gear” must be available. He said that OEMs should make available online and instructor-led educational and certification emissions compliance programs for trainers and technicians. Training needs to include both the after treatment system and on-board diagnostics, including additional “hands on” experience in diagnostics for the aftertreatment system.

- The entire team must be on the same page. This applies to not only the “players” and “coaches,” but to suppliers, employees and support personnel. “To be successful, build a strong, committed and knowledgeable network.”

He summarized his address and then ended with: “Thank you.” That was disappointing.

I was expecting him to conclude his address by saying: “Now let’s get out their, kick some a– and win.”

As the vehicle maintenance world twirls, more and more of us are working longer and longer hours.

There’s more work to be done because there’s fewer people to do it as companies "right size."

As my brother Steve - a veteran sales and marketing professional - is fond of preaching: "It is what it is, and you do what you have to do."

True enough, but consistently putting in too many long hours could be affecting our brains - and there’s research that makes that case. (Not that I’m building a case to present to my boss about my working less or anything like that.)

I just happened to come across a British study that discovered, when compared with working the typical 40-hour week, middle-aged workers who put in more than 55 hours per week had significantly lower performance on a series of mental skills, reasoning and vocabulary tests.

More disturbing, the research adds to the increasing evidence that establishes a link between cognitive impairment and dementia in later life.

"Cognitive functioning between employees working long hours and those working normal hours is similar in magnitude to that of smoking, a risk factor for dementia," stated the study.
In short, it seems that long hours aren’t just bad for our health, they’re also bad for our performance.’

You might want to share this blog with your boss when you leave the office - on time - today. (Let me know how it goes.)

The number of deaths related to transportation was reduced by almost 10 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, with fatalities from crashes involving medium and heavy trucks falling nearly 16 percent.

This is the third year in a row that transportation deaths have decreased.

That was among the preliminary figures released recently by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Board reported that overall, transportation fatalities in the U.S. were 39,397 in 2008, down from 43,384 in 2007.

Highway deaths, which account for more than 94 percent of all transportation deaths, decreased from 41,259 in 2007 to 37,261 in 2008. The number of medium and heavy truck fatalities fell from 805 to 677 in 2008.

Some of these improved statistics can be credited to the continuing safety improvements made to vehicles. Some can be attributed to fleets hiring safe, professional drivers and doing continual driver training.

I maintain the reduction in transportation related injuries and deaths is also due to regular and effective preventive maintenance and proper vehicle service and repair.

I say this because superior preventive maintenance and vehicle service and repair help to keep equipment operating safely. That can substantially reduce accidents caused by brake, tire, steering and other mechanical failures.

There are other benefits as well, with reliably and efficiently topping the list.

Effective vehicle maintenance and proper service and repair minimizes work schedule interruptions and keeps equipment working as much as possible, and at maximum efficiency.

There’s also improved driver morale. Drivers tend to take pride in equipment that is kept in top operating condition. They are more likely to drive safely and take better care of their vehicles.

And let’s not forget the public relations element. Vehicles are traveling billboards that represent a company. How does it look when one of its vehicles is broken down alongside the road, on the end of a wrecker or involved in an accident?

There is a national appreciation week for truck drivers, teachers, animal control officers, public assistance workers, students, national code enforcement officers, animal shelters, child nutrition employees, and the list goes on.

Perhaps it is time for a nationwide pat on the back to America’s vehicle service professionals to acknowledge their contributions toward highway safety.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

While some say the economy is improving, the reality for service providers and others is that they still face reduced work and profits, furloughs, layoffs and other hardships. Going to work isn’t as enjoyable as it once was.

Nevertheless, there are measures you can take to weather economic storms. It begins with not fearing down business conditions.

Challenge yourself to find the positive aspects and opportunities that lie within change.

Change your attitude and view change as a challenge and an opportunity. This, in turn, will help change results.

Invest in training. With the battle for customer dollars getting even fiercer, you need every tool in your business toolbox to stay ahead of the competition. One way to achieve this is by investing in training - for everyone.

Yet frequently, training is one of the first things to get hacked when a company’s budget gets squeezed. Wrong move. Trained and energized employees are just what any operation needs to stimulate growth and problem solve in the lean times.

What’s more, training places value in you as an employer because employees tend to look at education as a sign that their company cares about them.

Increase marketing. The marketing budget is another area that quickly gets lacerated when business slows. Another wrong move. Marketing expenditures ought to be increased.

Cutting back on marketing your operation makes it much more difficult to reach customers. Think about it. As business falls off, don’t you have to work harder to reach customers in order to generate more business?

Join a trade or industry organization. Membership can provide you with a number of benefits. Many organizations offer members discounts on vital products and services. They also make available valuable training and education opportunities, and that can help you stay competitive.

Pay attention. Keep up on news, developments and trends in your business areas and industries. And be sure to talk to your customers and prospect customers about their maintenance and service issues. Ask them insightful questions to elicit good intelligence. Doing so will arm you with good information so you can be proactive in capitalizing on business opportunities.

Fearing change is natural. It’s a very strong emotion that creates a lot of energy in a person. This energy, though, tends to be negative.

I’m strongly suggesting that you turn fear into positive energy by changing your attitude, viewing change as a challenge and opportunity and managing your business to not just survive, but thrive.

It’s my firm conviction that everything boils down to a matter of perception. Case in point: a half a glass of water.

An optimist thinks the glass is half full. A pessimist thinks the glass is half empty. A pragmatist thinks he’s halfway to the next drink. A defeatist thinks if he sticks around, he’ll have to wash the glass.

In their efforts to recruit and retain the best qualified technicians, more and more maintenance and service shops are treating them as true professionals, like part of the family, as valued members of the team and so on and so forth. And this is a good thing.

One area that I have found neglected is the "facilities" the technicians have to use?

What message does the appearance, cleanliness and amenities of bathrooms, locker rooms and break rooms send to technicians?

I attended the recent TMC SuperTech competition in Raleigh, NC. It was my first, and I was very impressed. When it came to commercial vehicle technicians, I saw professionalism every where.

Following that event, I had the occasion to visit some maintenance and repair shops and found a lack of professionalism when it came to the upkeep of bathrooms, locker rooms and break rooms.

A particular instance stands.

Upon entering one bathroom, I immediately saw that it was no comfort station. It obviously hadn’t been cleaned in recent history, and there was no toilet paper. I did an about face.

How do you think this makes your technicians feel?

Last week I got to visit the Richard Childress Racing organization - a championship NASCAR racing team - and had the opportunity to visit its affiliated Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR) Engines.

While it’s an old cliché, it fits: The ECR’s shop was so clean you could eat off the floor. The bathrooms were cleaner than those in my house, and my wife excels at keeping our home neat and clean.

How do you think ECR’s technicians feel about their workplace?

Competition for technicians being what it is nowadays, it’s those little things make the big difference. One huge differentiator is the technician’s perception of your operation. And you can control that.

Looking at things from a technician’s point of view can go a long way to making them more valuable members of your team.

Let me briefly introduce myself. I’m David A. Kolman, the new editor of Fleet Maintenance Magazine. I have assumed the reins of this outstanding publication from Mark O’Connell.

I’m very excited about this new opportunity and am thrilled to be working with its outstanding, dedicated staff.

I’m also energized for putting my efforts into the editorial mission of Fleet Maintenance: to provide the best practices for maintenance management to help you keep your fleets on the road with minimal loss of operating time.

A little about me. I have a strong background in transportation and communications with considerable diverse experience. That includes truck trade journalism, broadcasting, fleet and maintenance operations and truck owning, operating and driving.

I’m an award-winning business journalist and an actively involved member of the transportation industry.

I have maintained my commercial driver license and U.S. DOT medical card and truck occasionally to better keep my fingers on the pulse of the industry.

(If you’re interested, more detail on me can be found in the October issue.)

Be assured, Fleet Maintenance and its website - www.fleetmag.com - will continue to serve as the sustaining resource for maintenance managers, providing the vital information you need to more effectively perform your roles in purchasing and maintaining a safe, efficient and profitable fleet.

I welcome your thoughts and comments on how we might better service you.

I can be reached by phone at 800-547-7377 extension 2008 or by-mail at david@fleetmag.com.

This is possibly my last Fleet Maintenance blog entry, as I have decided to step down as editor of this fine magazine and pursue new opportunities as an alternative fuels consultant, helping fleets transition to cleaner, affordable, sustainable fuels. I’m proud of the work I’ve done on Fleet Maintenance magazine over the past nine years, and I’m confident that the magazine will continue to offer practical solutions to the challenges faced by fleet maintenance professionals. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of my readers, who have taught me so much over the years about perseverance, integrity, and professionalism. Thanks for the memories!

The first ever Nebraska SuperTech is over, and what a success it was! There are so many things I want to blog about as to what worked and what we could improve on for next year. But for now, I just want to publicly announce all of the winners of Nebraska SuperTech.

Brian Thompson and Rod Spangler from DelcoRemy graciously donated an iPod, so we were able to recognize one tech for having the highest score on the electrical station. This tech was Dennis Beckenhauer from Wick’s Sterling Trucks.

As for overall awards, NE SuperTech recognized three technicians. The third place prize went to Ray Wordekemper from Omaha Truck Center. Wordekemper received a $150 gift certificate from Snap-On tools.

The second place winner was Jeff Schlecht from Norfolk Truck Center. Schlecht received a $300 gift certificate from Snap-On tools.

The first place winner was Tim Zieman of Lincoln Truck Center. Zieman received an all-expense paid trip to represent Nebraska at the national TMC SuperTech competition this September in Raleigh, NC. He also won $500 in spending cash for the trip.
The SuperTech Steering Committee would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who participated- from volunteers to judges, to the technicians who made the event a huge success. Way to go!