april2021 - 10

UPTIME

FROM THE EDITORS

Creating a new normal
Taking stock of revised operations and processes in a post-pandemic world.

By David
Brierley
Editor

@ DavidBrierleyFM

Infection rates are decreasing, vaccines are
becoming available to more of the population,
and even the weather (in many parts of the
country) is doing its part to lift people's spirits.
The end of the COVID-19 pandemic seems to
be in sight, but what does that mean for your
fleet's maintenance operation?
There were a lot of changes to most businesses starting about a year ago. Some of the
processes and operations everyone was used
to were suddenly deemed unsafe. At many
shops, technicians were split into multiple
shifts; they had to sign up to use shared
equipment and technology; they could no
longer interact directly with drivers; even the
sanctity of the break room was disrupted by
capacity restrictions.
These changes were designed to keep all
fleet employees and their families safer from
the virus, and after putting them into practice for a while, they eventually began to feel
somewhat normal. Now that there seems to be
a light at the end of the tunnel, the new question is: Can we go back to the old ways? And,
perhaps more importantly: Do we want to?
Most technicians are likely itching to get
back to the way things were, and that will
probably be possible soon in many cases. But
there may also be processes and habits we
picked up during the pandemic that would
be helpful to continue practicing.
Many of the government mandates may be
viewed by technicians as annoyances or even
hardships, such as unfavorable shift changes
or having to wear a face covering. Hopefully,
most of those will soon go away.
As the mandates begin to relax, for example, more people will be allowed to be in
the same room at the same time, so shifts
should be able to normalize. Likewise, as
vaccines roll out to the general population,
mask wearing should no longer be mandated. Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the U.S.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases and chief medical advisor to the
president, has said Americans may need
to wear masks through the end of the year.
However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) have published updated guidelines stating that those who have
been fully vaccinated may come in contact
with others who are fully vaccinated indoors
and without masks.
There were positive changes that came with
the pandemic, however, and some of those
might stick around to become standard practice. Using technologies to advance touchless
communication with drivers or other technicians working on the same vehicle, for
instance, may have proven useful in the bay.

10 Fleet Maintenance | April 2021

»Take stock of changes made in the maintenance department and determine
if the changes improved efficiency, uptime, and employee morale.
Photo courtesy of Transervice

" Now that there seems to be a
light at the end of the tunnel, the
new question is: Can we go back to
the old ways? And, perhaps more
importantly: Do we want to? "
David Brierley

Where before communication may have
relied on computers, phone calls, and physical
sheets of paper being passed from person to
person, many fleet operations have upgraded
to utilizing mobile devices and having minimal physical interaction. This evolution to
upgraded technology and more touchless
communication offers the added benefits of
streamlining the process altogether.
Likewise, fleets that previously had a limited number of shared tools or pieces of shop
equipment may have purchased more so that
each technician on a shift would have their
own to use. This likely helps reduce downtime
since technicians no longer have to wait to use
the tool or equipment in question.
It is worth taking stock of some of the
changes made in your fleet's maintenance

department. Determine whether or not each
change improved efficiency, uptime, and
employee morale. If the change is determined to be worse than the process before,
the choice is easy: Go back to the old way
as soon as safely possible. If the change is
deemed an improvement, then keep the
practice in place and make it standard
moving forward.
It will take some time, but eventually we
will reach a middle ground - a combination
of the old normal and the COVID-era normal,
something like a new normal. When we get
there, we may just find that it is even better
than the old normal.
What are some COVID-era processes you
are excited to bid farewell, and what are some
you would like to keep?

april2021

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