United Drilling of Plumsteadville, Pa., has improved its DOT Safe Stat rating significantly using Arsenault’s Dossier fleet maintenance management software to direct and document vehicle maintenance. The company’s rating has gone from above 75 to near and often below 50 according to Tim Weaver, United Drilling’s fleet safety director.
“The rating is important when a unit is stopped by an officer who punches our DOT number into his computer. If the rating is above 75, the officer is urged to make a full inspection. A rating between 75 and 50 is regarded as good, but an inspection is optional. A rating below 50 is excellent and a full inspection is not recommended. Of course, the decision to inspect always lies with individual officers,” Weaver explained.
United Drilling operates 27 class eight heavy vehicles through 30 eastern states. Dossier is a maintenance management software.
Safe Stat, short for Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System, evaluates and saves data on crashes, roadside inspections, on-site compliance reviews and enforcement history. The system, administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the U.S.
Department of Transportation, quantifies the safety status of carriers. The goal is to focus enforcement resources on carriers with the greatest potential safety risk. The Dossier system provides on-site inspectors with documentation of preventive maintenance, repair histories and the like, but its impact on fleet safety is more than merely statistical.
“We began using Dossier in 2003. Within a year we had lowered our Safe Stat rating significantly below the deficient mark. By tracking our PM schedule we also were doing more intentional observation and catching routine items that were often overlooked by drivers. It’s
good to avoid lengthy roadside inspections, of course, but our fleet doesn’t just appear safer, it is safer,” Weaver said.
United Drilling, a 20-year-old company, drills holes for hydraulic elevators. Its mobile drill rigs gross 66,000 to 73,280 pounds each. Boom trucks pull Ingersol-Rand compressors to job sites and weigh 80,000 CGVW. According to Weaver, they tend to be away from base for extended periods of time which poses a maintenance challenge.
That challenge is usually met at one of three United Drilling shops. The main facility with a supervisor and two technicians is in Plumsteadville. The company also has a technician at each of two small shops in Garrett, Ind., and Jefferson, Wisc. United Drilling out-sources some maintenance work, but all maintenance is tracked by Dossier.
