Bus Maintenance Line Supervisors DO NOT closeout SO Inspections without making repairs!
Don’t allow unsafe buses to go out on the road
Attention all Bus Maintenance Line Supervisors!
As you know, when the mechanics inspect a bus during Scheduled Operations (SO) inspection and find defects, the depot has seven days to close out all the defects otherwise that bus is considered to have a blown inspection and that’s a problem for the depot.
As you all know, what happens is that all the defects on some buses cannot be fixed in time due to the backlog of repairs that need to performed on so many buses in a short period of time, so management is pressured to clear the backlog and move those buses off the SO log. They do this by asking you to closeout all open jobs on the SO and tell you to open a new work order. This clears the SO and on the face looks like the bus was repaired. But this is just smoke and mirrors and a way for management to cover up the failings of that depot.
There are a few ways to handle this if you are told or asked to close out SO’s and open new work orders.
- Refuse to do it.
- Refuse to do it without being insubordinate, comply and tell us and we’ll grieve it.
- Tell the manager that is giving you this order or direction to put there request in an email to you
What you need to take from this is that you should never put yourself in harms way to make the depot or management look good because when the $H!T hits the fan they will not be there for you.
We stand behind you and have your back and if you were not sure what to do in this situation, now you know, so be guided accordingly and use this message to protect yourself.
Philip Valenti, President
