march2022 - 34

MANAGEMENT
»Will funding from the Infrastructure Bill
be spent on innovating or maintaining?
1160619355 | Sergii Petruk | Getty Images
and the funding for anything in between is like
pulling teeth. "
I never thought of maintenance as a theological
issue. It has always been the case that new,
shiny things get the most attention. It also has
always been the case that tragedy gets attention
for a few weeks or so.
Maintenance, in and of itself, is far from tragic
and hardly new. It must be respected, as it is
a necessary facet of nearly everything in our
lives, as stated in an article in Aeon Magazine:
" We can think of labor that goes into maintenance
and repair as the work of the maintainers,
those individuals whose work keeps
ordinary existence going rather than introducing
novel things. Brief reflection demonstrates
that most of the human labor, from laundry
and trash removal to repainting and food
preparation, is of this type: upkeep. "
One problem is that our society is trained
Invest in
maintenance,
not just new
infrastructure
It's time to give maintenance
the resources and respect
that innovation gets.
The nation increasingly faces the consequences
of failing to maintain our infrastructure-from
crumbling roads to bridge failures,
to urban flooding, and so on. And the trucking
industry is bearing the brunt of much of
this deterioration. Aside from wear and tear
on tires and suspensions, poorly maintained
By Joel Levitt
PRESIDENT, SPRINGFIELD RESOURCES
Joel Levitt is the president of Springfield Resources, a
management consulting firm that services a variety of
clients on a wide range of maintenance issues. Levitt
has trained more than 17,000 maintenance leaders from
more than 3,000 organizations in 38 countries. He is also
the creator of Laser-Focused Training, a flexible training
program that provides specific, targeted training on your
schedule, online to one to 250 people.
infrastructure causes accidents. And even if
a truck is not involved, they can cause traffic
congestion, freight delays, and muck up a driver's
hours of service.
Thankfully, the roughly $1.2 trillion
Infrastructure Bill that passed late last year
will supply some money to address some of the
issues. But will we as a society make the same
mistake all over again? I sadly think it is likely.
The focus will be on building new things-on
cutting ribbons and not on maintaining what we
have. Of the trillion dollars or so spent, I wonder
how much will be designated toward maintenance,
or toward assuring the infrastructure
is guaranteed to be maintainable? If we spend
the money on new things, we are just kicking
the can down the road to our kids, or their kids'
generation. All the new stuff is going to need to
be maintained at some point, too.
There is something built into this age that
decries taking care of what we have. In history,
we may be unique in our adoption of innovation
as a norm and the goal of having products
so cheap we can throw them away rather than
fix them. Our consumption has drifted from
utility to fashion.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I spoke
with a pastor on a flight to Dallas. He asked
what I did and I said maintenance management.
Unlike most people (whose eyes quickly
glaze over when I talk about maintenance), he
seemed interested.
" Actually, you and I are kind of in the same
business, " he said. " I have no problem getting
people to church for births, deaths, and
marriages, but no matter what I say, most of
my congregation will not come in regularly to
do 'maintenance' on their soul.
" I suspect that you have the same issue, " he
continued. " Everyone is all ears when another
bridge collapses or at the ribbon-cutting when
a new road opens. But getting the enthusiasm
34 Fleet Maintenance | March 2022
to look for innovation and look away from
maintenance. Everyone remembers the Wright
Brothers' contributions to aviation, yet do you
even notice the crew on the tarmac checking
fluids and flaps to ensure it is safe to fly?
My pastor friend had a point. There is a
virtue to spending the time taking care of what
we have. This is an important message for the
" Everyone is all ears
when another bridge
collapses or at the
ribbon-cutting when
a new road opens.
But getting the
enthusiasm and the
funding for anything
in between is like
pulling teeth. "
people coming into our commercial vehicle
industry. We have great wealth in the U.S., from
resources and assets to information to time, but
with great wealth comes great responsibility.
We in the maintenance industry have an
important job in the coming few years. We
have to be the ones who seek out the local
infrastructure conversations and contribute to
them. Our on-the-ground expertise is essential
to help leaders make better decisions.
One way is to get in touch with your elected
representatives and tell them you have expertise
in maintenance. Tell them you would be happy
to offer up some time to express your opinions
to make the infrastructure more robust. It could
be the effort that keeps us from facing more dire
consequences 50 years from now.
march2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of march2022
