By Dave Millhouser

"Whats that up there on the roof?" I asked JR.

We were posing for photographs, next to the bus wed been driving. Our passengers were kids on their way to camp, and who were under the mistaken impression we knew what we were doing. They wanted to immortalize us.

It was a crack. The coach was 20 years old.

"Does it mean anything?"

"Yup," JR said. "It means the bus is breaking in half."

You might logically expect that motorcoaches wouldnt break in half -- ever. Was it poor design or workmanship that caused that bus to sag and the crack to develop?

Years ago, an operator changed the oil in his brand new Eagle. When his mechanic put the drain plug back he cross threaded it. A few miles later, in the middle of a trip, the plug fell out. The bus came to rest in the middle of a pool of oil with a seized engine.

The operators position was that, since hed paid a Gazillion dollars for the bus (they were cheaper then), we should give him a new engine. If we didnt, he would never buy from us again.

We didnt.

Its often tricky to figure out whos at fault when a problem develops. As a coach ages, the line becomes more blurred.

In these two cases, it would be hard to blame the manufacturer (but some folks do).

In a buss formative years, warranty is clearly defined, and maintenance responsibility is spelled out. We all expect a coach to live long past its guarantee but, as time passes, its reasonable to expect things to wear out. The coachs reliability is increasingly dependant on duty cycle, the quality of service it receives, and what sort of abuse it experiences.

On the other hand, if a substantial percentage of a certain coach model has widgets falling off after seven years of service, then maybe its not the operators fault. If its a safety issue, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants and needs to know about it . . . and so do other operators.

Every model of coach ages differently, and its worthwhile staying in touch with operators who run your brand. The Maintenance Interchange, conducted annually at UMA Motorcoach Expo, is one of the industrys best forums for picking up intelligence on potential problems and their solutions.

Manufacturers generally keep track of coaches long after warranties expire, and want to know about any problems that develop as result of design issues. Make sure your coaches are on their mailing list.

As a vehicle ages, things that were never a problem may become significant. When a manufacturer delivers a bus there is a pre-delivery inspection list that covers all known adjustments and potential failures.

The longer a model of coach is in production, the more potential problems are discovered and added to the list. You end up with a BIG piece of paper, but a better bus.

Preventative maintenance programs for an aging bus should be similar. If a problem turns up a couple of times, add it to your check list. If other operators are seeing it, add it. Some things wear out at 200,000 miles. Thats not the builders fault, but best to catch it before buses in your fleet kick the bucket.

Some problems are time or wear related. Others can result from abuse. As a coach ages, chafing and cracks can develop. You want your folks to be looking for those things every time theyre under a bus. Experience with a particular model will tell you where to look.

In ye olden days, one of the key people in preventing breakdowns was the poor soul who went under the bus to grease it. With luck (and training) they spotted lots of things before they broke.

No good deed goes unpunished, and now we have coaches that have few grease zerks. Since there are fewer reasons to go under the bus, problems can develop without being noticed.

Responsibility is shared between operator and builder. If 90 percent of seven-year-old "caveat emptors" shed their widgets in a ball of fire, then the "caveat" needs to be reported to NHTSA.

If an axle departs a coach, five years after a crack started when a driver hammered a curb at 60 mph, dont blame the builder. There were five years to spot and fix the crack.

Its a moving target, but as time passes the responsibility passes increasingly from the builder to the operator. In the end, its the operator who has most at stake, so its critical to look for problems before they down your coach.

Manufacturers want to know about problems, so they can build better buses. If you report an endemic issue, they often will help, even after warranty expires. On the other hand, theres a limit to what you can reasonably expect. Buses (like bus salesmen) wear out.

If hed have asked nice, maybe wed have given "oil change guy" a new plug.

Dave Millhouser is a bus industry marketing consultant and freelance writer. Contact him at: dave_millhouser@hotmail.com.