Fleet Maintenance - 29

Safety and training imperative

While the Volvo team looks to take advantage
of current processes and products already in
place, there will be some added training and
safety considerations.
Volvo completed a full risk assessment both
to address service needs in the field, as well as
service in the shop.
In the field, the team has been working to educate
emergency first responders such as emergency
medical services (EMS), as well as fire or sheriff departments. This process has become more
complex than originally thought, Zody explained.
This is because different departments do not always
share the same district. Add to that, varied routes for
the electric trucks means numerous first responders
will require education on how to manage responding to a high-voltage vehicle situation.
"As you get further into this and do more
investigation, you realize these issues are fairly
complex and involved," Zody said. "We're getting
this fleshed out now so we're prepared."
For the shop environment, the team evaluated
items such as battery and parts handling needs,
proper signage and communication in the shop
including high-visibility safety barriers, diagnostic equipment required, and safety procedures
such as lockout / tagout lockboxes used on items
like the traction voltage system, which includes
600V orange cables that could cause severe electric shock if not managed properly.

Addressing the changing needs
of the service technician
Zody shared the proposed supervisory structure
of managing the electric trucks as they enter
the shop. "This new technology coming into the
workshop will create a need for properly trained
technicians," he said. This starts with a workshop
manager overseeing all shop safety, a lead technician managing work activity approvals, and a

well-trained service technician responsible for
completing maintenance and repairs.
The workshop manager would ensure that all
technicians are properly trained and have the
right equipment to service electric trucks. They
also observe to ensure all proper safety schedules
are completed.
The lead technician will play an integral role as
the person commissioning and decommissioning
the vehicle. In other words, as an electric truck
comes into the shop, the lead technician is the one
controlling access to the vehicle, taking measures
to ensure safe and proper service procedures.
"Once the vehicle is made safe, the [service]
techs can come in and perform whatever duty
needed, and then come back out," Zody explained.
"The lead tech will come back in and make sure
it's done in a safe state."
As it relates to training, Volvo has partnered
with two local California area colleges which have
established curriculums for heavy duty electric
vehicle service. Instructors from San Bernardino
Valley College and Rio Hondo College in Whittier,
California, shared their experience and plans with
training future technicians.
The curriculum includes items such as:
Ü Understanding common electric vehicle terminology and language
Ü Understanding and performing high-voltage
safety standards, for voltages of 400V or more
Ü Understanding proper personal protective
equipment required for working on high-voltage systems
Ü Describing the common components in a full
battery-electric vehicle drivetrain
Ü Demonstrating proper procedures to isolate
high voltage for diagnosis and service repairs
Overall, once the student is trained he or she
would have the ability to disassemble the parts,
test the equipment, and also have effective written
and oral communication with a co-worker and
customer to explain the repair and what was done.
San Bernardino Valley College instructor Kenny
Melancon shared that the educational facility is
working to recruit high school students to learn
the terminology and some processes for electric
vehicle service. "We call it concurrent enrollment,"
Melancon said. "To build a relationship to teach at
the high school level with knowledgeable instructors. They can earn college credits."
"As new technology comes out and shows up in a
facility, it can be challenging to understand how to
service the vehicles," said John Frala, an instructor
at Rio Hondo College, of servicing battery-powered
trucks like the new VNR electric. "We're training
our technicians live on this product right now.
Graduates in May [of 2020] will have experience
on this product already."

Real-world starting point
»TEC Fontana chose to dedicate two bays
where electric truck service will be completed.
Installed near these bays are two ABB Terra 50
kW charging stations (one pictured here), which
can charge the truck in less than 90 minutes.
E. Schueller

Volvo hosted the Volvo LIGHTS event at the TEC
Equipment Fontana dealership, located 50 miles
west of Los Angeles. TEC Equipment operates 28
Volvo and Mack Trucks dealerships throughout
the west coast, primarily along the U.S. Interstate
5 corridor. Their technician team will also be one
of the first to assist with servicing and developing
maintenance programs for the electric VNR truck.

While establishing a service template designed
for widespread electric vehicle adoption is already
in progress, Volvo is working to train a small pool
of current technicians who will be managing the
service of these vehicles at the TEC Fontana dealership from the start.
"The TEC program allows us to build our methods, tools, and processes, to get feedback here to
create the template on what's required to sell
this product," Pope said. "Once we have it mostly
figured out we can move to the next dealership
and the next region and we'll be able to do it at a
much faster pace."
As an efficiency, shops may want to have a
dedicated bay - for instance, TEC Fontana chose
to dedicate two bays where electric truck service
will be completed. Installed near these bays are
two ABB Terra 50 kW charging stations, which can
charge the truck in less than 90 minutes. The bays
will also include the necessary safety equipment
such as safety railings.

»Volvo has evaluated the tools, equipment,
and processes necessary to service heavy duty
trucks in the shop. Pictured here are items such
as proper signage and high-visibility safety
barriers as well as lockout / tagout lockboxes
used on the traction voltage system, which
includes 600V orange cables that can cause
severe electric shock if not managed properly.
E.Schueller

"The goal here is really to try to get a template
created so what we build is pretty comprehensive
from an aftermarket standpoint," Zody said. "Then
ideally, it would be nice to just duplicate that wherever the vehicles are running."
As the Volvo LIGHTS program picks up momentum through regional haul applications, Pope
shared that the plan is to ultimately develop
battery-electric heavy duty trucks for long haul.
"We'll learn together the range, the energy
management system work, [and] how to incorporate logistics of charging into daily operations,"
Pope said. "We'll target 75 to 175 mile ranges of
operations [for the initial VNR electric launch]. As
the technology improves and the charging infrastructure develops in public spaces, we'll grow into
long haul as our ultimate objective."
Expansion into other applications, such as long
haul operations, will not only require a well-established recharging infrastructure, but will also
require a breakthrough in battery technology to
allow for higher capacity in a smaller footprint.
Beyond the battery technology advancements,
the Volvo LIGHTS program has set in motion a
holistic approach that aims to help pave the way
for a more widespread adoption of commercial
electric trucks.

July 2020 | VehicleServicePros.com

http://www.VehicleServicePros.com

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