MORRISVILLE, Vt. – As Lamoille Valley Transportation grew from about 40 buses to about 140 vehicles and other assets, Fleet Manager Zach Prive took his maintenance paperwork on the road. He even worked on it at his hotel.
“I would get the work orders from each shop emailed to the hotel I was at,” Prive said.
He carried another stack on his bus. He spent weekends logging finished repairs and writing new work orders. The family-owned company’s paper system could no longer keep up with its growth.
Since then, Lamoille Valley has added more inspection checks and made work orders easier to handle. It also uses repair records to plan maintenance before parts fail. Prive estimates these changes have cut calls for roadside repairs by about 35%. A work-order process that once took about 10 hours now takes two.
The changes help the Vermont company care for a larger fleet. Its vehicles travel across the United States and Canada, often far from the company’s shops.
Decades of growth
Norman and Noreen Prive started the company in 1986 with a contract to run seven buses for the Morristown school district. They worked from their home, handling repairs, planning routes and driving buses.
The company added its first motorcoach in 1988 as demand for charter trips grew. It built its current office and repair shop in 1990, according to its website.
Three generations of the Prive family run the business.
Growth picked up after the COVID-19 pandemic, Prive said in an account shared by fleet maintenance software company Fleetio. Buying other businesses helped Lamoille Valley serve more areas. Its fleet grew to include school buses, motorcoaches, entertainer buses, vans, cars and trailers.
Much of the repair work still relied on spreadsheets, paper inspection forms and printed work orders. The company handled about 90% of repairs and upkeep in its own shops. Tracking parts, labor and service records took a lot of time.
The old inspection forms listed about 20 to 30 items. Prive estimated those checks covered about 50% to 60% of a bus.
Inspections now include more than 100 checks used at two points in the company’s motorcoach maintenance schedule. Mechanics check everything from tire tread to how well the air conditioning works.
Staff from the company’s three shops meet each Monday. They discuss upcoming work, problems and lessons from recent repairs. They add checks when mechanics find parts that need more attention. They also remove repeated checks.
Prive calls the inspection form a “living document.”
“The more preventive you can be, the less problems you’ll have out on the road,” he said.
Heading off problems
Repair records also help the company plan ahead. If windshield wipers usually need replacing every six months, the team can replace them after five months.
Such anticipation can help keep vehicles ready for long trips away from the company’s shops.
Prive estimated a routine maintenance inspection takes about two hours. The company puts its labor cost at about $55 an hour. An inspection costs about $110 before any repairs.
He thinks the cost is worth it. A breakdown on the road could cost more and delay a trip.
Every three months, Lamoille Valley reviews road repair calls, and staffers look for ways to check and fix buses before the same problems happen again.
The company also spends less time handling repair records. Prive once entered parts and labor by hand, updated financial records and filed finished work orders in a book for each vehicle. During busy times, paperwork could pile up for weeks.
The faster process gives him more time to plan repairs and solve other problems.
Prive said gathering repair information is only one step. Fleet managers also need to know how to use it.
“Understanding how to work those reports is a big piece of it,” he said.
Lamoille Valley tracks maintenance costs for each mile a vehicle travels. This helps the company figure out the cost of running and leasing vehicles owned by a related leasing business.
Prive also is looking at whether artificial intelligence can spot repeat repair needs and suggest when to schedule maintenance.
He keeps an old pen from his grandfather with the company’s slogan: “Where Service is the Difference.” He sees the maintenance changes as a way to carry on his family’s standard of service.
Photos courtesy of Lamoille Valley Transportation
