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Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 11/14/2014 :  12:39:47 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Not sure how many are still here from the state, but if you are reading this in Ohio, you need to act.

The OHP Inspection teams have been informed that they are to have annuals completed by July 31. This means annuals could begin as early as January 2nd.

As someone who has and still does work on the fleet, I feel this is absolutely unjustified and if anything will cause our safety to go downhill.

Imagine a bus passing it's annual in January and some lax fleet maintenance departments saying "Oh well...it's done". Winter is Hell on these buses, you know it and I know it.

For those in other states who may do it this way...am I out of touch with reality?

For those in Ohio wanting contact info for the people we need to get in touch with, please email me at smithp@ils-k12.org

second.flood
Top Member

USA
640 Posts

Posted - 11/14/2014 :  12:50:53 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I haven't even had a spot check yet for this year.

This might be a reaction to the start of the school year being backed up each year.
My system started August 17th after ending the previous year June 12th.
I have my annual the week after the last school day.

Edited by - second.flood on 11/14/2014 1:03:33 PM
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Carp_26
Administrator

United States
170 Posts

Posted - 11/14/2014 :  1:21:01 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We haven't had any spot inspections yet either. For a small fleet of 24 buses we usually get a later inspection date mid to late July.
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bfaulkner
Senior Member

168 Posts

Posted - 11/14/2014 :  2:04:56 PM  Show Profile  Visit bfaulkner's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Michigan here, We get inspected by the State Police once a year. Its never the same time of the year and we old get a few days notice. It forces those types of schools to keep their buses good year round.
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bwest
Administrator

United States
3820 Posts

Posted - 11/14/2014 :  2:09:31 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Illinois here, we don't get any notice when the state inspector is coming but it is usually in the summer (not always) and sometimes it can be two years between times. I think the average is suppose to be 16 months. We do have to take then into a test lane every six months.

Bryan
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Crown
Senior Member

89 Posts

Posted - 11/15/2014 :  06:02:15 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
If it’s anything like way out west, it’s always been annuals for every single bus, with a 13 month maximum. Another catch though is that there is an unannounced “Terminal Inspection” once a year where they pick the buses to be looked at, usually 10% of the fleet. The overall program is more than enough to use as a gauge and incentive to keeping the buses in good shape. If you slack off on maintenance it will show up sooner or later when even a single bus is involved in an accident or gets inspected on a field trip. You will also have more break downs. The Terminal is also when the driver and maintenance records are inspected for compliance. A grade for the Terminal is issued of Satisfactory, Provisional, or Unsatisfactory. No one, especially the fat cats in charge, will want anything but the first one. What works and does not need to cost more, is to do your very best to keep every bus ready for an inspection at any time, all the time. Those not doing that already shouldn’t be in the busing business anyway.
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Thomasfan89
Top Member

USA
1155 Posts

Posted - 11/15/2014 :  07:28:37 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I honestly can't see how this is going to work here. I just started at my new job this Summer, and I sat in on our annual even though it was before my technical start date. Our inspection was the second to last week in June. We had a pretty decent year given our limited resources (fleet of 19 aging buses, 1 full-time mechanic, 1 as-needed part-time mechanic, 1 bay garage with just an air jack/bumper lift). My fleet is up in the secondary snowbelt and it is just going to be impossible for them to do an annual inspection here when there is snow on the ground. Its tough enough for them to do spots when its snowing.

I've heard from some of the other supervisors in the area that our first round of spots is coming up (like the next week or two), so I'll see what my inspection team has to say about these changes. Honestly, this doesn't allow us to give the buses their thorough cleaning/prep that the OHP expects us to do before annuals. All it will take is an annual date during the snowy months and one day of getting slammed with snow and we'll be sunk. Summer inspections at least allows us to see how bad the winter months really were on our buses.
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Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 11/15/2014 :  07:37:46 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I guess my hang up is this: how exactly are they going to do a quality inspection when the underside is caked with frozen snow and slush?

Not everybody has nice, big garages to pull into and let them defrost. Even then, you know how long it takes to defrost when they get that way.

How are they going to nail real safety defects, such as broken springs, rust cracked air chambers, and crack floor crossmembers if they can't see them?

95% of us care and keep up on things. Its that 5% that don't know or care about what they are doing that are the concern.
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Cal Mc
Advanced Member

303 Posts

Posted - 11/16/2014 :  10:37:29 PM  Show Profile  Visit Cal Mc's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Annuals? We have Semi-annuals. The bus goes through a shop inspection twice a year.
Wheels pulled, brakes disassembled, cleaned and measured. Tire tread depth and steering component wear measurements taken. All measurements recorded for future reference.
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second.flood
Top Member

USA
640 Posts

Posted - 11/17/2014 :  04:19:32 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
In Ohio we have an annual inspection. At my shop the inspection team takes two days to thoroughly inspect all 33 of my buses.
Also, random spot inspections are performed during the school year. Spots are basically the same as an annual inspection. They are just done sporadically throughout the year, a few buses at a time.
Law states at least one annual and one spot per bus each year, although the Trooper/inspector is not restricted to only two inspections per unit.

Twice a year you completely disassemble the brakes?
I guess that's okay, but neither necessary or even possible here :)

Edited by - second.flood on 11/17/2014 04:41:26 AM
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RonF
Top Member

867 Posts

Posted - 11/17/2014 :  08:38:45 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Here in Georgia, we an annual inspection by the Department of Public Safety, Commercial Motor Carriers Division. In addition to that we are mandated by state law that ALL school buses in the state of Georgia have a documented DOT safety inspection conducted by maintenance personnel within your school system every 20 school days or once a month.
For me that is 3 buses a day that get a safety inspection. It takes about 30 minutes to inspect.
This includes checking the brake thickness, push rod travel, tire pressure and tread depth, along with lights, belts fluids, steering components, drive line components, wipers, seats, ect.

Georgia DOE website has a pretty good inspection form and Florida DOE has probably the best inspection book I've seen. That is the one we use for reference.

US Army retired CMBT
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aaronwilmoth80911
Top Member

538 Posts

Posted - 11/17/2014 :  12:38:36 PM  Show Profile  Visit aaronwilmoth80911's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Colorado here: In my state, we are the technicians and inspectors. Once a year, every bus has to be pulled for an annual. This includes removing wheels and measuring brakes, checking slack adjusters, major thorough check over. We also have to pull the bus in every 6000 miles max to check slack adjusters, and give the bus a check over. Our annual inspections are pretty detailed on a state level, and our district has higher standards than the state. We pull our every 4000 miles max for scheduled pm service which includes checking slack adjusters. We have to record all measurements for our annuals, and also have to include previous year brake measurements as well. We are also audited by the state department of education typically every other year. They go through the fleet doing a general check over, and also go through all our paperwork to make sure all our ducks are in a row.
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RichBusman
Advanced Member

453 Posts

Posted - 11/19/2014 :  8:18:23 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Here in New York, every bus whether school or commercial is inspected twice a year, which I personally am a big fan of. Once a year, the entire vehicle is inspected top to bottom. If the operator profile is satisfactory in that time period, the second inspection is either a body or chassis inspection only, which helps to reduce inspection time to focus on additional vehicles. If the operator profile is unsatisfactory, the entire fleet is inspected top to bottom twice a year.

Operators schedule inspections in advance, but the inspections are extremely thorough, including a brake stop test which measures braking distance through a sensor mounted to the windshield.

NYSDOT does a very good job with their bus inspection program, especially given the limited resources they've had the past few years. Previously every bus was inspected top-to-bottom every six months, no matter the operator inspection rate. Due to limited manpower and improved inspection results, the variety inspections became the new norm in the past year or so.

More info can be found at:

https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/osss/bus/inspection
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Thomasfan89
Top Member

USA
1155 Posts

Posted - 11/20/2014 :  1:49:59 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Update for the Ohio folks:

I had my first spot inspections today and our trooper gave me the official letter from his boss (the Lieutenant at the post) regarding the changes. Our team from the Cleveland area inspection post will be beginning annual inspections on May 1. If we want to have annuals earlier than that, we can request them, however it is not mandatory. They are going to push the larger fleets in the district (I.E. Cleveland Municipal) to start as early as possible. Us with smaller fleets and less resources will be saved for the Summer. They want to have annuals completed by July 31. August will be reserved for re-inspects. Spots will begin October 1 and must be completed by April 1.

Overall, for us it will likely be business as usual. We usually schedule our annual inspection in late June after school is out and this gives us enough time to have our fleet all ready for inspection. Our crew told us today they will make sure we can stay in June as usual. Thankfully, we have a great crew of inspectors and they are very accommodating to us folks that spend a good portion on the year with roads covered in de-icing chemicals.
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Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 11/20/2014 :  2:59:18 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Well now that's good news for a change!
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Sherm
Top Member

USA
621 Posts

Posted - 11/21/2014 :  04:13:02 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Thanks for the update!
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JoeHEB1
Advanced Member

498 Posts

Posted - 11/21/2014 :  04:20:35 AM  Show Profile  Visit JoeHEB1's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Here in the great state of Texas, we take our fleet to an inspection station in June. The state inspection sticker allows the bus to travel at 50 MPH max on the highway, a DOT inspection sticker allows the bus to travel 60 MPH max. The state inspection consists mainly of safety and the DOT inspection is more thorough.
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dsalinas1939
Top Member

USA
1316 Posts

Posted - 11/24/2014 :  1:03:03 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
here in nj where get inspected every 6 months we get a few weeks notice and it takes them about three weeks to go threw 160 buses but they do a very crappy job they dont pull wheels half of them have never worked or have any experiance with anything mechanical so its really on us to make sure everything is up to par we have had buses pass inspection then i would recheck and the front end was lose its a joke here so like i said its up to us in the shop to make sure everything is up to par

Edited by - dsalinas1939 on 11/24/2014 1:04:06 PM
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