october2022 - 38

A truck with a dual-drive axle may need six
columns, while a fire-fighting water truck at the
airport would use eight. A pickup would likely
only need two, one in front and one behind.
The lifts come with an extra wide set of forks to
accommodate wider, larger tires.
Air lift
Those attachments come in handy at Hawaiian
Airlines' various sites across Hawaii's main
islands, including Oahu, Maui, and Kauai,
explained Curtis Balingit, Hawaiian Airlines'
senior manager of the ground service equipment
department. These include smaller 6,000-lb.
baggage tugs to 65,000-lb. pushback tractors and
fuel haulers, which the airlines' technicians have
serviced with Stertil-Koni's mobile lifts for about
a decade. There are five stations currently using
the mobile lifts, according to Balingit.
" It makes more sense for the guys to stand up
and easily work on the heavy tractors instead of
having to crouch down, " Balingit said. " There is a
much older gentleman who doesn't like to bend
down. He uses the Stertil-Koni lift so he can work
on forklifts' brakes and tires. "
At the nine-bay Honolulu site, Balingit's crew
performs PMs, unscheduled work, and fabrications
for various custom units, and that versatility calls
for flexibility of the equipment. Because the mobile
columns can be configured for each type of vehicle
and at various bays, the lifts have fit right in.
" We like their ability to easily move around the
shop, and we can lift pretty much anything at any
location, " Balingit explained.
There's also a drive-on Challenger system rated
up to 18,000 lb. in the shop for brake, transmission,
and axle work, but Balingtit did not want to
» A technician in the ground maintenance department at Hawaiian Airlines prepares
to lift a small pushback tug with a Stertil-Koni Mobile Column Lift.
Photo courtesy of Lou Cardoza
add any extra fixed lifts, which would tie up more
space and become trip hazards.
Cords are also trip hazards, which is another
reason Balingit favors the wireless battery-operated
lifts. They can recharge overnight.
In terms of safety, Hawaiian Airlines reinforces
lifted equipment with additional jackstands.
" Just in case we lose tire pressure on one of the
units while it's on at height, we don't want this
thing to come crashing down, so we put support
stands on all the units that we lift, " Balingit said.
Recently, Balingit noticed the columns were too
far apart and supervised the adjustment of them
to ensure that if a tire did go flat, the rim would
not fall through and damage the chassis.
" That would make for a catastrophic
event because that thing would definitely
tip off of the lift and could fall to the
ground, " Balingit asserted. " You want to
make sure that the unit is picking up the
tire as close as possible to the forks-you
don't want any gaps. When you're lifting
a vehicle, you want it to be lifting
up equally. "
Maintenance on the airline's shop
equipment was not needed during the
COVID-19 pandemic, as Hawaii saw
a sharp decline in tourism because
of the lockdowns. No flights in or out
meant the vehicles did not require as
much maintenance. But now things are
nearing normal again, and Balingit and
other fleets on the island have Cardoza
to arrange help.
Cardoza has a repair tech well-versed
in swapping batteries, changing fluids,
and fixing any other issue.
" We do have to check periodically to
make sure they're in in spec, " Balingit
said. " And there were a couple of times
when we needed some repairs because
something wasn't working, but Lou is
really good about getting those concerns
addressed and back in operation for us. "
2209FMS_TMC.indd 1
38 Fleet Maintenance | October 2022
8/22/22 8:30 AM
http://jointmc.trucking.org
october2022

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