An independent safety audit for the Lake Transit fleet, with a response by Laidlaw, came before the Lake Transit Authority on Friday, Oct. 13. Laidlaw General Manager Stu Livensparger pledged to provide better documentation concerning ongoing maintenance of the fleet.
“My biggest disappointment was in administration,” Livensparger said, concerning the findings by Transportation Maintenance Consultants (TMC). “Where we have failed is in documenting our work, and we have taken action.”
The catalyst for the audit was an incident on Wednesday, April 12, which involved loose lug nuts on a wheel of Coach No. 313. The bus had been in operation at the time and while there were no passengers on board, there was a disruption in service while the vehicle was taken out of commission and replaced with another coach. The incident was not documented except for a brief note on the dispatch log stating that the driver was back on the route and that No. 313 would be towed.
Transit Manager Mark Wall stated in a memorandum that accompanied the audit report that while he did not believe there was an effort to obscure the event, the incident pointed out that Laidlaw did not have proper reporting procedures in place.
On Wednesday, Aug. 9, the LTA authorized Wall to negotiate with TMC to perform the emergency maintenance audit and to perform ongoing audits on a routine basis. On Friday, Aug. 11, a team of three inspectors physically inspected 12 of the Lake Transit fleet vehicles and as well as preventive maintenance inspection records. Out of 69 PMIs total, 59 were considered to be on time, five were considered to be late and five were considered to be missed.
Prior to its release to the LTA, the report was given to Laidlaw for response. Livensbarger told the LTA on Wednesday that Laidlaw would repair individual discrepancies on each of the buses so identified. Livensbarger also said that Laidlaw had put a new records-keeping system in place in regard to the PMIs. “Each person involved knows what is expected of them,” he said, adding that a daily audit was being conducted of all signatures and dates.
As for the rear curbside wheel on Coach 313 that had loose lug nuts, Livensbarger said that painted rims had prevented the lug nuts from being completely torqued and that the rims would instead be “power-coated” with a material that would not undermine this procedure. Livensbarger noted that Laidlaw concurs with the inspection team”s comments on torque procedure and that they have trained maintenance staff to do it correctly.
Livensbarger agreed that Laidlaw would pay a charge for liquidated damages in the amount of $1,950.
Contact Cynthia Parkhill at cparkhill@clearlakeobserver.com.
