Our Maintenance Philosophy

Vehicle fleets are a significant investment for transit organizations. When they entrust the maintenance of their vehicles to us as part of an operations contract, it is a major responsibility, and one that we take very seriously. We know that the quality of the vehicles speaks volumes about the quality of the service. Our commitment is to provide clean, safe, dependable and comfortable vehicles that meet on-time service requirements without maintenance-caused disruptions.

Our clients know that they can depend on us to help preserve and extend the value of their assets. Veolia Transportation has years of experience maintaining vehicles of every kind, from shuttle vans to double-decker buses to 60-foot articulated BRT buses. We successfully maintain 9,000 public transport vehicles for clients across North America over 120 transit contracts.

How do we do it? We follow proactive and rigorous scheduled maintenance procedures. We use the latest in diagnostic technology and inspect vehicles thoroughly at regular intervals to prevent service disruptions. We make sure that our maintenance personnel are well trained, and we provide experts from our national office to back them up. We conduct audits of all our facilities, followed up by action plans to remedy any issues.

In short, at Veolia Transportation we are committed to ensuring that the equipment we’re entrusted with operates safely and reliably for years to come. And we have a long track record of doing so—in both large and small transit systems across the country and throughout the world.

Our Maintenance Programs

Veolia Transportation has created comprehensive programs to establish and communicate our best practices, standards and procedures for maintenance in all of our contracts. Our base maintenance plan reflects our high internal standards, which often exceed what is required of us by the client. It also reflects the diversity of all our operating environments, because we operate in a wide variety of climates from the hot dry deserts of Las Vegas to the cold and snowy winters of Detroit.

We create a customized maintenance plan for each location to accommodate specific fleet types, climates, local operating conditions and specific requirements of our clients. Our customized local maintenance programs may have different requirements and specifications, but all have the following common elements:

• Adherence to Manufacturer’s Maintenance Requirements. The only way to ensure vehicle reliability is to adhere as strictly as possible to the manufacturer’s maintenance requirements. Our maintenance program is predicated on the philosophy that the manufacturer is the first and best source for all information related to the revenue fleet.
• Preventive Maintenance Plan and Procedures. Based upon a review of daily mileage readings (life miles) and the number of elapsed miles since the previous Preventative Maintenance Inspection (PMI), inspections are initiated using the Veolia PMI Checklist. A repair order is submitted for each PMI and included in the vehicle history record. The required repairs are scheduled based on their severity. PMIs are scheduled so the daily provision of service is not impacted.
• Corrective Maintenance. Vehicles receive corrective maintenance as a result of referrals from operators, road calls, audits, or deficiencies discovered during PMIs. Defects are prioritized, a repair order generated and the vehicle scheduled for repair. All repairs are recorded and logged.
• Daily Pre-Trip and Post-Trip Inspections. Drivers are trained to identify vehicle issues so that service is not disrupted. Should an issue arise during inspection the vehicle is replaced.
• Monitoring and Tracking Inventory and Repairs. Veolia Transportation uses customized fleet management software as a platform for maintenance management systems. This software provides vehicle schedules for the PMI program, ensures on-time compliance, maintains vehicle histories, manages parts inventory, and tracks fuel, oil and other consumables. This system enables us to maximize the efficiency of the maintenance operation and maintain a high standard of quality in fleet repairs.
• Maintenance Audits. Our regional maintenance directors are tasked with regularly auditing and reviewing the performance of their transit systems, as well as ensuring that local staff has the resources and training they need.
Fueling the
Future

Veolia Transportation leads the industry in the operation of fleets using alternative fuels. We are highly experienced in deploying alternative fuels, as well as managing warranties and meeting federal and state regulations.

It’s an investment in the future of our world.

We utilize our know-how to work with clients in implementing fleets utilizing alternative fuels. A sampling of alternative fuel types we currently work with are shown below.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
In California, we operate and maintain CNG vehicles at our Chula Vista, San Diego, Victor Valley, Sonoma, Chico, Napa and Orange County locations. We’ve built CNG fueling stations and are partnering with Clean Energy, a national supplier of CNG fuel and station installations.

Propane (LNG). Since 1999, we have operated propane powered vehicles in our DASH contracts for the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Transportation.

Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel. We use ultra low sulphur diesel for most of our diesel-fueled fleets. In California, we have managed engine retrofits with after-market treatment technology resulting in particulate matter emissions reductions of 85%, thus complying with the state’s Air Resources Board (ARB) requirement.

Bio-Diesel. Since 2003, we have expanded bio-diesel to our client’s fleets in many locations including Baltimore, and York Canada. We use B-20, which enables us to use either regular or Bio-diesel, depending on fuel availability and which doesn’t require any substantive changes in our daily operations or maintenance practices.