The summer of 2011 will be remembered in Fleetpro history. Relentless and punishing, July’s heat was unrivaled in 140 years of Washington, D.C. weather record keeping. July’s heat piled onto a torrent of recent hot-weather records and attained all sorts of unenviable hot-weather milestones. The high temperature was at least 90 on 25 occasions, the most on record.
Twice (July 23 and 24) the District tied for its warmest all-time low temperature of 104 degrees. The heat was off the charts at weather stations in the region.
On July 22, Dulles International Airport soared to 105, its hottest temperature since records began in 1963. That same day, Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington International Airport sizzled to 106, the second-hottest temperature in Baltimore’s weather records, which began in 1871.
And the heat wasn’t the only job hazard for our crews this month as this family of bears proves to our service crew at Dulles Airport.
Not only did our staff have a close encounter with a black bear family and work through a heat wave, our offices and maintenance facilities were also shaken up by the earthquake and Hurricane Irene knocked out the only heavy-duty compressed natural gas fueling site in the Baltimore Metropolitan area located at Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Thanks to the efforts of Phil Wallace and Ed Russel and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Fleetpro was able to shuttle our bus fleet into D.C. to fuel, averting a shutdown of the fleet.
Baltimore Gas and Electric helped out as well by opening their Spring Garden compressed natural gas facility. Many thanks to Blake Gardner and Rob Ermer for their support.
Hats off to all of you, A+ effort and job well done!
Shover Inc. & Smart Delivery
Federal Express Home Delivery
Shover Inc. and Smart Delivery own and operate a fleet that offers home delivery and became Fleetpro clients this month. “In our first round of service with Fleetpro, we saved over $1,000! They identified repairs before a breakdown occurred,” states Mr. Shover.
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B-Dry Waterproofing
www.bdry.com
Since 1958, B-Dry® basement waterproofing contractors have solved more than 1/4 million wet basement, basement air quality, and basement foundation repair problems in homes across the nation.
7602 Energy Parkway, Suite 1
Baltimore, MD 21226
410-255-2200
Amtrak
DH Moving and Storage, Inc.
Whether you are moving a small apartment or a mansion, a small office or a big business, across the street or across the country, DH has what it takes to make your move an efficient and satisfying experience.
Fleetpros off-hours PMI services will help keep DH Moving and Storage trucks on the road without interrupting their delivery schedule.
http://www.dhmoving.com/
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Diesel Direct
Diesel Direct provides diesel fuel directly to your trucks fuels tanks, at your location while your fleet is parked. Based in Mass. Diesel Direct is a 24 hour operation
Starting with model year 2014, trucks will be subject to rules regarding fuel economy. Diesel semis will need to mark a 23% cut in mpg; gasoline HD pickups and vans, 10%; diesel 15%; and all other vehicles including buses and sanitation trucks, a 9% mpg improvement. Improvements in fuel efficiency will come from advancements in diesel combustion, turbo charging, fuel injection, low-resistance tires, idle time limits, vehicle structure, and more.
Fore more information, Click Here.
On July 15, 2011, in a meeting of the House Subcommittee on Transportation Security, U.S. carriers told the federal government to slow down on “excessive, burdensome, and duplicative security rules.” Since 9-11, many programs are now in place that will minimize the risk of another attack on U.S. soil. This risk management has been causing a multiplicity of overlapping and burdensome security requirements for trucking companies.
At the meeting, the ATA Vice President of Security and Operations, Martin Rojas, offered several ideas regarding what needs to happen. He mentioned, “We don’t need more regulation, we need more cooperation.” Rojas suggested that “Congress encourage information-sharing between the public and private sectors; and improve coordination between federal agencies, many of whom already play a role in transportation security.”
For more information, Click Here.
The Metropolitan Washington Airport’s Authority Fire & Rescue Department-Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Division at Washington Dulles International Airport recently received a donation of four buses from Fleetpro. The buses will support many areas of rescue training, including: victim extraction, vehicle stabilization and equipment training.
“These buses provide an excellent way for us to enhance our training program,” states Captain Jason Graber of the Safety and Training Division. “We operate three shifts, and each shift has a bus to utilize. Plus, the fourth bus will be used for additional training.”
Fleetpro is responsible for the fueling, washing and repair & maintenance of forty-three shuttle buses, which are in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at the airport. The shuttle buses serve almost 17 million passengers annually.
“In addition to the benefit of training, the donation supports our “Green” commitment of fully recycling,” remarks KJ Reynolds, Vice President of Fleetpro.
The "Heart and Soul" of Operations
Fleetpro recognizes Christina Pollikof and Margaret Tate as the “Heart and Soul” of the Fleetpro team. Christina, Maintenance Control and Analysis Specialist, works with exception reporting. These reports are generated during preventive maintenance inspections, indicating failures and ranking them by degree of severity. Christina also handles billing and accounts receivables. “Perhaps the most challenging part of my job is the research involved in setting up a new client. Each fleet may seem relatively similar; however, in actuality, no two fleets are identical due to year, make and model of vehicles,” states Christina.
Working in tandem with Christina is Margaret Tate, Customer Service and Scheduling Coordinator. As Scheduling Coordinator, Margaret matches up Fleetpro crews with the scheduling requirements of the customer. “Our mission is to provide inspections on-site, after hours, or during vehicle downtime,” states Margaret. “In order to deliver service, it is essential to structure inspections that match customer expectations.”
Many thanks to the good work and performance of these two vital parts of the Fleetpro team!
Congressman Jason Altmire
At a recent hearing to discuss new hours-of-service rules for truck drivers, the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations-Representative Jason Altimire, voiced concerns about how the new rules could impact small companies. The changes include: reducing the maximum driving time by one hour from 11 hours to 10, limiting drivers to only one 34-hour restart in a 7-day period, adding 30-minute breaks and limiting the operating window to 14 hours.
Altimire says,” these rules could impact small companies by forcing them to hire additional drivers and purchase more vehicles…”
For more about this story, Click Here.
The Maryland Transportation Authority is raising the price of tolls for bridges, tunnels and highways. Some of these tolls will be doubling or tripling the price drivers have to pay. In most states, the toll prices have already risen.
Randolph P. Brown, Acting Executive Secretary of the Maryland Transportation Authority, states that these changes could generate $77 million in new revenue in the 2012 budget, with numbers increasing as the years go on. The editor of Toll Road News, Peter Samuel, said many U.S. toll authorities held off on increase during the recession years, but as traffic recovers, it is time to get back to business.
For more information, Click Here.
| 10 REASONS TO USE WHEEL-CHECKS |
| 1. |
Provides a simple, visual means of confirming proper wheel torque in seconds. |
| 2. |
Reduce your risk of wheel detachment accidents.
(Protect the public, help prevent property, and load damage). |
| 3. |
Lower your maintenance costs by eliminating unnecessary re-torquing. |
| 4. |
Quickly identifies a hot wheel possibly caused by bearing failure or brake drag. |
| 5. |
Decrease equipment downtime. |
| 6. |
Facilitates official roadside inspections. |
| 7. |
Clearly visible at night and in bad weather (rain, snow, and muddy conditions). |
| 8. |
Easy to install. |
| 9. |
Cost only a few dollars per wheel. |
| 10. |
Pays for itself in just one unnecessary re-torque procedure. |
|
http://www.wheel-check.com/
Fleetpro is a national distributor for Wheel-Check.
The MTA experienced wheel issues in 2002; to read the full story, use this link: http://www.wheel-check.com/archive.html
The Maryland Vehicle Law book is published each year and is available for sale to the general public through the LexisNexis bookstore. It includes Maryland’s general motor vehicle laws and related statutes.
Click here for purchase information
