december2023 - 26

" If we don't have the
time to fix it right
now, when are we
gonna have the time
to fix it again? "
Dewey Bishop, Fleet Technical
Trainer, Ozark Motor Lines
cians would always replace the bracket
before any damage was done, but labor
and parts aren't free. So Bishop pressed
the issue with the OEM, which then
had engineering redesign the piece.
" I always call it the 'Dewey bracket,' because
had he not said anything about it, then
[the OEM] would have continued to use
that same bracket, " explained Wayne
Skinner, Ozark's VP of fleet maintenance.
Ozark Motor Lines
Dewey Bishop
" The Mentor "
Fleet Technical Trainer |
Ozark Motor Lines
For the last 15 years, Dewey Bishop has
been in charge of training Ozark Motor
Lines' 68 technicians, providing them
instruction on everything from general
maintenance and repairs to working on
newly adopted technology such as tire
pressure monitoring systems and collision
mitigation. Surprisingly, he taught
himself how to work on cars and trucks.
" I've never been to actual school for any
of it, " Bishop admitted. " I sit down and
read manuals. " He also learned simply by
doing, starting with the rebuild of a 1966
Chevy Chevelle 350 V8 engine at age 16.
Bishop said he was hooked on the trade
once he saw " mechanically how everything
functioned, how it was connected,
and how one piece was required for
the next piece to function properly. "
That was in 1988, and he hasn't stopped
since. For the last 17 years he's worked
for Ozark, a fleet that mostly runs in
the Southeastern state. Bishop has
attended several OEM training sessions
to stay up to date on changes to
the equipment. That, to Bishop, is a
critical piece to avoiding downtime.
" From my experience, this industry changes
daily, " he said. " And if you don't stay
on top of [those changes], you're gonna
get left behind. That's the point I'm trying
to get across to all of our techs. "
In addition, Bishop stresses that Ozark's
maintenance team takes pride in their
work and never takes shortcuts. " It's not
how fast something can be repaired, but
how long the repair will last, " he offered.
Another adage Bishop passes down: " If we
don't have the time to fix it right now, when
are we gonna have the time to fix it again? "
Because Bishop's nose is always in a manual
or company maintenance report, he has
caught issues that not only improved Ozark's
efficiency but also the industry at large.
In one case, Bishop noticed that the
fleet was going through an excessive
amount of steering axle brackets that
supported the ABS cable. The techniBishop's
eagle eyes were put to good use
when recurring differential leaks started
to mount across the Memphis-based
fleet. He confirmed the technicians were
following OEM repair guidelines, and bolts
were tightened to OEM specifications.
But the investigation was not done yet, as
Bishop then checked previous torque values
and saw they were previously higher.
He again addressed this with the OEM's
representative to get the value increased.
" Any fleet that uses that repair procedure is
able to benefit from these updates, " Skinner
noted. Aside from chasing down issues on
older equipment, Bishop must also prepare
Ozark's five shops for new technology. In an
effort to decrease tire maintenance costs,
Ozark adopted Bendix SmartTire TPMS
this year. Along with setting up training
visits from the OE, Bishop created internal
training videos using a GoPro camera.
Skinner noted Bishop will also create videos
whenever he discovers reliability issues.
" That helps get information out to our outlying
shops, as well as here in Memphis, "
Skinner said. The Memphis home base has
specific shops for trucks, tires, trailers, body
work, and detailing, all of which Ozark uses
to diversify its apprentices' skill set through
five phases. Bishop oversees the 52-week
program, with a target of getting three to
four techs through each year. " We're trying
to build the best truck technician possible, "
Bishop said. As no surprise, he says the
best techs have an innate " curiosity about
how it functions or why it functions. "
That was a self-taught lesson, too.
december2023

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