By: Seth Skydel

Reprinted with permission of Fleet Equipment Magazine, August 2006

Productivity in truck fleet maintenance operations is affected by many factors, including equipment choices, shop design and layout. In particular, the proper selection of lifts can have a significant impact.

Reputable industry lift manufacturers belong to the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI), the trade association of North American manufacturers of in-ground lifts as well as marketers of overseas lift systems. In cooperation with the National Bureau of Standards, ALI sponsors current national standards covering lift safety requirements for construction, testing and validation.

ALI member companies market lifts that bear the “gold label” of the ANSI-accredited ALI automotive lift certified lift program.

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By: Mohawk Lifts

Reprinted with permission of Motor Magazine, September 2006

Speedlane allows full-size trucks or passenger cars with unibodies to be serviced quickly by converting a Mohawk two-post, swing arm lift into a drive-on lift in about 8 seconds per side. Speedlane saves you the time and effort necessary to position the swing arms at the proper lifting points under the vehicle frame, but takes up much less shop space than a full-time drive-on lift.

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Albany, NY – Albany county airport GSE shop manager Art Van Praag was faced with a new fleet maintenance issue when he recently received the responsibility of maintaining & servicing the Albany airport Authority’s refueling vehicles.

The largest refueler was a 10,000 gallon Rampmaster truck with a 31′ overall wheelbase. “Given the weight of the 10,000 gallons of fuel, plus the weight of the truck, we determined that at least a 110,000 lb. lift was needed. For safety sake, we decided to purchase a 120,000 lb. capacity ramp style drive-on lift. We looked at the idea of mobile columns, but wanted the absolute security of a 4 post lift, as that’s what the guys in the shop were used to.”

The lift will also be used for our fire/rescue truck, large dumps & other equipment.

Mohawks SPEEDLANE adaptor allows two post swing arm lifts to quickly convert to a two post drive on pad lift which leaves the wheels hanging free for tire and brake service.

Motor Magazines annual TOP 20 award is given to 20 tool and equipment manufacturers who have invented a shop productivity tool that allows greater flexibility and time savings in performing vehicle maintenance services.

Mohawks previous TOP 20 award (2004) was the safety weight gauge for two post lifs, which has since expaned and is offered with any of 11 different Mohawk Lifts, including Mohawks MP series of Mobile Column lift.

By: Laura L. Drabczyk – Public Safety & Environmental Health

“The Mohawk Turf Package has made a world of difference.  It is easier to service lawn maintenance equipment since you can see better, the equipment is more secure on the lift than the floor jack, but most importantly there is no more lying on the floor in awkward positions for the back and rest of the body.”

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By: Tim Fritz

Lifts play an important role in in the day-to-day operations of any automotive service facility. Some may even argue that a lift is a shop’s most valuable employee. After all, lifts never call in sick or go on vacation. However, one of the worst things a shop owner can do is fall into the trap of taking lifts for granted.

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By: Kevin Loewen – Parts & People

Cortland, N.Y.—What goes up must come down.  And when what has gone up is a vehicle weighing thousands of pounds, making sure that the descent is controlled can be a matter of life and death, said Bob O’Gorman, President of the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI).

O’Gorman said the mission of ALI, founded in 1945, is “promoting the safe design, construction, installation, and use of automotive lift products.”  In this role, the association has formed a lift certification program, a lifting guide safety manual and video, a lifting-points manual, and other tools to help the automotive service industry safely operate the hundreds of thousands of lifts that are used daily by the industry.

The association is made up of 19 member companies and one nonmember certification program participant, O’Gorman said.  The companies, all North American, engineer, design, distribute, and service more than 80 percent of the lift equipment sold in North America.

The number of lifts used in the automotive industry has exploded in the past 20 years, O’Gorman said, and while the lift industry has a strong safety record, accidents do happen and can have catastrophic results both for the service technician and for the business that owns it.

“I’ve never met someone who wants to be injured or a responsible employer who accepts injuries as a cost of doing business,”O’Gorman said.

“If safety is a core value, I think every injury is preventable.”

The first step in ensuring safety is for shops to purchase lifts that have been certified to the American National Standards Institute ANSI/ALI ALCTV, O’Gorman said. This is already required under local building codes in the 47 states that have adopted the International Building Code, he said.

Even if a shop is not required by local code to have a certified lift, O’Gorman said it is important because it confirms that the lift has been tested to perform up to its listed specifications, for instance the amount of weight it is able to lift.

“There is a statement that has been around the lift industry for many years that I just hate,” he said.  “‘Save a buck on hope and luck.’ In my opinion, that’s what shops that buy noncertified lifts are doing. I believe they are taking a tremendous risk.”

The next step, whether a business has existing lifts or has just installed new lifts, is to establish a planned service regimen, O’Gorman said.  The American National Standards Institute ANSI/ALI ALOIM (Automotive Lift Operation Inspection and Maintenance) recommends that businesses follow the lift manufacturer’s recommendations for service and inspection or, in the absence of manufacturer information, follow the standard. he said.

O’Gorman said OSHA does not have its own regulations on lifts but instead uses ALI’s standards and can, therefore, under its General Duty Clause, cite shops for not performing planned maintenance. He said that in the case of a workplace accident or complaint, OSHA would inspect a shop’s equipment and records, and can also do that as part of a regular inspection.

While it is possible to handle inspections and service in house, O’Gorman said he suggests “leaving it to the pros,” either the manufacturer’s personnel or their distributors staff. “A shop owner needs to consider the liability factors and risk management factors of servicing and maintaining lifts in house,” he said.

ALI has also developed several products to help shop owners ensure that employees understand how to safely use a lift, O’Gorman said. In October, the association introduced a 24-minute lift safety DVD hosted by NASCAR legends Richard and Kyle Petty, he said. The DVD kit, in addition to the training video, contains the association’s safety manual and a written test that managers can have employees take to ensure they understand the safety information.

O’Gorman said the kit can be obtained through ALI for $79 or maybe available at a discount through lift manufacturers or other trade associations, such as the Tire Industry Association (TIA).

In recent years, ALI has developed a Strategic Safety Alliance program to help disseminate its safety materials. TIA and a several state autodealer associations have joined the program as have industry participants such as Bridgestone/Firestone.  It has helped the issue of automotive lift safety training reach thousands of people, O’Gorman said.

In addition to the video, the association also offers the industry recognized “Vehicle Lifting Points Quick Reference Guide”, O’Gorman said. The guide includes manufacturers’ suggested lifting points, he said. Lifting at other points on the vehicle can result in vehicle damage, injury, or lift failure, he said. O’Gorman said ALI is happy to help shops interested in lift safety and encourages them to contact the association at 607-756-7775 or by visiting its Web site at www.autolift.org.

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By: Chad Simon – Government Fleet

Cooperative buying programs, such as HGACBuy, enable public sector fleets to save on vehicle and equipment purchases.

AT A GLANCE
Cooperative purchasing programs, such as HGACBuy, can provide the following services to public sector fleets for competitive bids and proposals:

• Conduct research and surveys.
• Develop specifications for each product or service.
• Solicit vendor participation and issue specifications documents.
• Conduct pre-bid and pre-proposal conferences.
• Open bid and proposal responses before evaluation.
• Issue vendor contracts awarded by the program’s board of directors and certify contract validity.

Public sector fleets and government agencies of all levels throughout the U.S.are increasingly utilizing cooperative procurement, or consortium, tactics to purchase vehicles and equipment at the lowest possible price.

Designed to promote activity among local governments, cooperative procurement improves efficiency by granting inter-governmental contracting authority at the local level, including contracts between all political subdivisions and state agencies.

H-GACBuy Cooperative Purchasing Program

Open public procurement allows a government entity to purchase items while demonstrating fiscal responsibility with taxpayer money, offers vendors an opportunity to compete, and enables governments to obtain the best overall price, according to Bob Wooten, program manager, cooperative purchasing, Houston-Galveston Area Council.(H-GAC).

In 1971, the cooperative procurement strategy was introduced to the state of Texas with the passing ofthe Interlocal Cooperation statute, which allows acity, county, state,or other governmententity within the state of Texas to legally purchase items of significant value through a competitive bid process.

“It can take 3-9 months to complete a procurement process. Soft costs include time involved in research, negotiating a contract, and attorney and stafffees, ”said Wooten.

However, through HGACBuy — H-GAC’s cooperative purchasing program used exclusively by governmental entities — any government agency can procure items, including cars, fire trucks, and fleet maintenance equipment. After the competitive bid process, H-GAC issues a two-year contract to the lowest responsible bidder. Minimizing cost and time, the contract allows government entities that meet legal requirements to purchase equipment, according to Wooten.

“Public fleets can obtain better pricing through the contract, leveraging the power of our membership to get the best possible pricing. The competitionand size of membership usually provide better pricing than fleets would get on their own,”said Wooten.

Services Offered

As a designated purchasing agent on behalf of participating government fleets, H-GAC performs the following services for competitive bids and proposals:

• Conducts research and surveys.
• Develops specifications for each product or service.
• Solicits vendor participation and is-sues specifications documents.
• Conducts pre-bid and pre-proposal conferences.
• Opens bid and proposal responses before evaluation.
• Issues vendor contracts awarded by the H-GAC board of directors and certifies contract validity.

Let the Bidding Begin

The bid process starts with a draft bid solicitation sent to all potential bidders. After a pre-bid conference, the final bid document is created and, after evaluation, the H-GAC board of directors awards the winning vendor a contract to provide goods and services to government members.

“For example, if a city wanted to buy 10 police cars, they would look on our Web site (www.hgacbuy.org) to see which vendors we have under contract for the type of police car they want. The member would call the contractor directly to work up a quote for them based on HGACBuy’s contract pricing. The member would then purchase directly from the vendor who delivers the product or service to the member,”said Wooten.

A contracted list of aftermarket options is also available to vendors, including lightbars, customized paint, etc.

In 2005, $220 million in products and services were bought through HGACBuy and about $240 million in 2006. The program has 300 vendors under contract and more than 1,700 government agency members spread across 27 U.S. states, growing by about 125 agencies each year, according to Wooten.

H-GAC is just one government-to-government co-op for procuring goods. The Mid America Regional Council (MARC) serves the Kansas City regional market in the same way H-GAC serves nationally.

Using Another State’s Contract

H-GAC’s contract terms and conditions mandate the guaranteed lowest prices on vehicles and equipment, according to Steve Perlstein, government sales manager for Mohawk Lifts, an HGACBuy vendor and contract holder for garage lifts with MAS contracts serving 19 states, HGAC, MARC, and GSA.

For agencies that don’t have a contract, state procurement statutes (purchasing laws) allow an agency within the non-contracted state to use another state’s contract.

“For example, there are no lift companies that have a contract with the state of Colorado; however, the town of Parker, Colo., wanted to purchase a Mohawk lift and used another state’s contract, which offered four lift brands, as a contracting vehicle, ”said Perlstein.

WSCA Stipulates Lowest Pricing

The Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA), a trade organization comprising mostly Western states, also has a contract for garage lifts and related equipment; however, any state can join this contract. Since each offer stipulates the prices are the lowest to any government agency, if a price decreases for the private sector, or the product’s list price decreases, so does the government price, according to Perlstein.

The WSCA was a competitively bid contract, sent to all members of the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI).

For a WSCA state to become an active participant in the multi-state WSCA contract, the state signs a participation agreement attached to the WSCA contract.

Not all WSCA member states have joined the WSCA procurement, while some non-WSCA member states, such as Missouri, have joined. Participation in a WSCA contract is a state-by-state decision. However, if a state elects to participate in a WSCA contract, usage is voluntary among its local government agencies, according to Perlstein.

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By: Cooperative Purchasing Newsletter

When calculating the Total Cost of Procurement (TCP), it is not enough to look at the price of the product or service alone. TCP is composed of the time, effort, and resources that go into the final delivery of an item, including:

• Specification research
• Vendor interviews
• Creation of bid & RFP documents
• Advertisement of procurements
• Pre-bid conferences
• Bid openings
• Bid & RFP evaluations
• Coordination of evaluation committees
• Creation of award recommendations
• Action taken by governing body
• Protection against legal challenges
• Establishment of contract documents
• Issuance and/or negotiation of contracts
• Administration of contracts

Consider the hard dollar costs of such activities as advertising as well as the soft dollar costs associated with time spent by purchasing and legal staff in the procurement process. Once all these factors are added, the TCP can range from under $1,000 for a simple commodity purchase to many thousands of dollars for more complex RFPs. The time involved in making an award fora more complicated procurement can easily exceed 12 months.

Cooperative purchasing makes this process much more efficient by relying on the procurement steps that HGACBuy has already completed. In most cases, purchasing through HGACBuy involves working directly with a contractor, receiving a quote, and issuing a purchase order. By using HGACBuy, you are working directly with another unit of local government since HGACBuy isa political subdivision. By leveraging thousands of local governments nationwide, the savings on the product or service adds up as well. So to meet the procurement needs of your jurisdiction,cooperative purchasing through HGACBuy not only makes sense; it saves cents, too!

Here’s what you need to consider before signing a cooperative contract.

Since 1990, the number of national purchasing cooperatives has increased dramatically, expanding the range of goods and services beyond what’s available through state contracts. A public works department can get virtually everything it needs, from copy machine paper and telecommunications systems to road salt, dump trucks, and vehicle lifts to construction equipment.

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