Battery terminals.

Corroded battery terminals and cable ends.

For eons, corrosion on battery terminals has been a niggling maintenance and safety issue on motorcoaches.

Since it is an old, old problem, one might think there would be clear standards for dealing with battery terminal corrosion from both a safety inspection and maintenance standpoint.

But, alas, there arent.

And, periodically, that has created problems for motorcoach operators and something of a dilemma for motorcoach safety inspectors.

The issue reared its head again last month when the Oregon Department of Transportation Motor Carrier Division, with assistance from a handful of sheriffs offices and police departments, plus the Oregon State Police, conducted surprise bus inspections at locations across the state and at weigh stations. (See Oct. 15 Bus & Motorcoach News.)

Two common violations found among the 94 motorcoaches and buses checked during the inspection blitz were corroded battery terminals and exhaust leaks.

Just over a year ago, an Ontario motorcoach operator had one of its coaches put out of service because of corrosion on battery terminals.

Another operator reported to the Ontario Motor Coach Association that it, too, had been written up by Ontario Ministry of Transportation inspectors for the same transgression when its coach was put out of service.

In both cases, the Ministry of Transportation officers told the coach drivers the terminals had to be "cleaned and greased" before their buses could return to service.

The North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, published by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, lists loose or corroded battery connections as an out-of-service item.

The corroded terminals prohibition is included in the criteria as a bus fire prevention measure because corrosion can indicate escaping battery gasses.

However, as the Ontario Motor Coach Association pointed out at the time, the standard provides no guidance to inspectors as to the extent of corrosion if any that is deemed acceptable.

"For example, if an inspector finds just a light trace or dusting of corrosion, does this warrant taking a coach out of service?" asked the association.

The incidents prompted the OMCA to ask the CVSA to review the criteria for a possible amendment, or to provide interpretive guidance to inspectors regarding battery corrosion. (See Oct. 15, 2010, Bus & Motorcoach News.)

For the past year, the CVSA Passenger Carrier Committee has been considering the inspection criteria for battery terminal corrosion but, thus far, hasnt been able to resolve the issue.

The issue has been discussed at two CVSA meetings, one in Chicago and another in September at the CVSA Annual Conference in Austin, Texas, and most recently on a conference call last month.

In Chicago, the Passenger Carrier Committee felt that a manufacturers input would be best to have, explained Lt. Donald Bridge Jr. of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Commercial Vehicle Safety Division and chairman of the CVS Passenger Carrier Committee.

A manufacturer was contacted, but its information was not received in time to be considered at the Austin meeting.

"Following Austin, Will Schaeffer (of the CVSA) and I were on a conference call with the manufacturer and received some very good information. That information was used during the Passenger Carrier Committee conference call held (in October) to discuss the issue," said Bridge.

"On that call the information was discussed with several bus manufacturers and carriers who were on the call. There was no consensus on moving forward with changes, but there was some excellent discussion on the topic and it is slated for Seattle where we intend to have more in-depth information, discussion and should finalize an answer on the topic," said Bridge.

CVSAs 2012 Workshop will be April 24-26 in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Wash.

Meanwhile, Bridge said he and other Passenger Carrier Committee members would welcome any additional information about the issue, including photos, incidents or problems that may be helpful during the discussion.

The Oregon inspection program that resurfaced the battery corrosion issue gave the motorcoach industry something of a black eye.

The 94 inspections resulted in 40 buses and 16 drivers being pulled off the road for a combined out-of-service rate of nearly 60 percent.

ODOT inspectors found a total of 150 safety violations,

Two common violations for vehicles cited by ODOT were corroded battery terminals and exhaust leaks under the vehicle. "The concerns are fumes entering the passenger area and fire hazards," said the agency.

For drivers, two common out-of-service violations were failure to carry a current medical certificate and failure to keep the driving log book up to date.