The Telure Standard for a vehicle fleet

Emergency equipment aboard: extinguisher, warning devices and kits

Vehicle by vehicle, with a hand on each item rather than a glance down the aisle. Extinguisher in its bracket, pin and seal unbroken, hose and nozzle clear, gauge in the green, and the service tag legible with the date read off it and recorded against that registered extinguisher. Warning devices complete in their case and undamaged. First aid kit and body fluid cleanup kit present, sealed, and with nothing in them past its date. Spare fuses and any other loose equipment the vehicle is meant to carry, present and where the driver would find them in the dark. Weekly, because this is the only safety equipment on a vehicle that walks off it: it gets borrowed for the bus in the next bay, used on a route and not restocked, and taken out for a deep clean and left on a bench. A per-trip look tells you the extinguisher is there. A weekly look with the tag in your hand tells you it is still the one that was serviced. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Passenger restraint, seat and barrier check

Position by position on every vehicle that carries passengers in belts. Pull each belt out to its full length and look at the whole of it for cuts, fraying, chemical staining and abrasion where it passes an anchor or an edge; work each buckle latched and released; confirm each retractor takes up and locks. Then the fittings the belts hang on, and any child restraint or safety vest anchor point, with its hardware present and nothing bent. Then the seats and barriers themselves: frames tight to the floor with no movement at the leg, no cracked or crushed seat back, cushion covers unsplit with no exposed foam or frame, and the barrier ahead of the first seating position secure and undamaged. Weekly, because this is the hardware passengers put their hands on every trip, so it wears on the route calendar rather than on the year, and because a cut belt is not visible from the aisle. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Child check reminder system function test

Bus by bus, arm the child check reminder the way a route arms it and then prove it. Leave the rear button unpressed and confirm the alarm actually sounds where a driver walking away from the vehicle would hear it, not just inside the cab. Then walk the aisle to the back seat, press it, and confirm it clears and stays cleared. Where a vehicle has no device, this is the check on whatever stands in for one: the sweep tag, the rear placard or the sign-off, present, legible, and in the hand of the person who finishes the run. Weekly, because this is the one system on the vehicle whose failure is completely silent. A dead reminder does nothing differently on a route, nobody notices it, and the only day it announces itself is the day it mattered. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Warning lamp, stop arm and crossing gate cycle

Two people: one at the controls and one outside watching, because none of this can be answered from the driver's seat. Run the warning lamp system through its full sequence and watch every lamp front and rear, including the ones behind the person who normally checks them. Swing the stop arm out to its full travel and confirm it holds there, that its own lamps light, and that its face is unfaded, unbent and legible from the distance a driver behind you reads it. Run the crossing gate out and back, watching it swing clear and return without catching. Then walk the vehicle for reflective markings and lettering that have lifted, dulled, been painted over or been covered by a repair. Monthly, because the daily walkaround is one person circling a vehicle alone and cannot work the controls and watch the sequence at the same time. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Emergency exit, hatch and aisle clearance check

Exit by exit on every vehicle, operating each one rather than looking at it. Rear emergency door opened from inside to its full swing and closed again; each roof hatch opened and reseated; each push-out window released and refitted; and the buzzer or alarm on every one of them proved to sound. Then the path to each exit: aisle, stairwell and the floor in front of the exit clear, with nothing stored, strapped or stacked where it would be in the way, and the labels and opening instructions legible from inside in the dark. Monthly, because an exit that is only ever looked at rather than operated is exactly the one that seizes, gets painted over at a body repair, or fills up with equipment nobody meant to leave there, and none of that shows on a walkaround where the door stays shut. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Mirror set and cross-view field check

With the vehicle parked and somebody sitting in the driver's seat, put a cone or a marker at each place the mirrors are supposed to cover: directly in front of the bumper at ground level, at each front corner, down both sides and behind. Confirm each marker is actually visible from the seat, and say which one is not. Then the glass and the mounts: no crack, no fogging between the layers, no play in the arm, no bracket loose enough to walk out of aim over a winter of rough roads, and heaters working where the mirrors have them. Monthly, because mirrors are knocked out of aim constantly by branches, wash bays and people reaching from the ground, and a driver who adjusted them to suit themselves this morning cannot tell you whether the set still covers the piece of ground a child stands on. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Tire, wheel and rim inspection with tread measured by position

Position by position, with a gauge rather than an eye. Measure tread depth at three points across each tire and write the numbers down against that position; read and record cold pressure; and look at the sidewalls and shoulders for cuts, bulges, weather cracking, feathering and any repair. Then the wheels: fasteners present with no rust streak or witness mark showing movement, rims uncracked and unbent, valve stems and caps fitted and not chafing, hub seals dry, and the spare where one is carried. Monthly, because tread loss is slow and continuous. A daily walkaround catches the flat and the fresh cut; only a measured number on a dated record shows you the axle that has been wearing unevenly for two months, while it is still an alignment problem rather than a tire. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Wheelchair lift, ramp and securement inspection

Cycle each lift or ramp through its full travel under the load it is rated for, with somebody watching the whole way rather than somebody pressing a button. Platform up and down without hesitation, drift or noise; roll stop and outer barrier deploying and holding; handrails tight; the manual backup operated and proved rather than assumed; and the interlock that is supposed to stop the vehicle moving with the lift out actually doing it. Then the securement: every strap, retractor and hook for cuts, fraying and distortion, floor track and pockets clear and undamaged, and occupant belts present and working at each position. Monthly, because a lift on a route runs several times a day and a lift on a spare bus runs never, and the one that has sat all term is the one that will not come back up. Replacement intervals for straps and lift components come from the manufacturer's documentation, not from this cadence. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Fuel point, fluid store and spill kit inspection

Walk the yard's fueling point and the fluid store. Dispensers, hoses, nozzles and breakaways undamaged and not weeping, the emergency stop reachable, marked and unobstructed, and the apron around the pump clear of anything that would keep a spill from being contained. Then the store: drums and containers closed, labeled and standing on intact secondary containment, waste oil and coolant segregated, nothing decanted into an unmarked bottle, and rags and absorbents stored where they belong. Spill kit complete and not quietly raided, safety data sheets current, and the eyewash flushed with the flush dated. Confirm the PPE the yard expects people to wear is stocked and serviceable. Monthly, because a fuel point degrades through use rather than through time, and a spill kit is only ever complete until the first spill. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Body, step, handrail and floor structure walk

Get under and inside each vehicle with a light. Underneath: frame rails, crossmembers, spring hangers and body mounts for corrosion, cracking or a repair somebody made without writing it down, fuel and brake lines clipped and clear of chafing, and the exhaust routed away from the floor. Inside: soft spots and lifted covering in the floor, particularly at the stairwell and over the wheel arches where water gets in and nobody looks; step treads and nosings worn smooth or lifting; and the entrance handrail tight, unbent, and free of any gap or hook where a backpack strap or a drawstring could catch on the way down. Quarterly, because structural corrosion moves over seasons rather than weeks, and because this is the walk that never happens unassisted: it needs a lift or a creeper and half an hour, and it is the first thing dropped in a yard that is short. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Open defect walk: every vehicle with its own list in hand

Take the open corrective items for each vehicle, then walk out to that vehicle and look at each one of them. Is the repair actually on this vehicle, is it the repair that was described, and is anything on the list still exactly as it was first reported? This is a check on the loop rather than on the bus, and the only honest way to answer it is standing in front of the thing: a defect written up, worked in the system and closed by somebody who never went out to look is precisely what this catches. Anything undone, done differently, or done and already failing goes back on the queue with today's date and a photograph. Quarterly, because a queue needs a quarter to grow a backlog worth walking, and because a pattern in what keeps coming back is only visible over that long. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Driver license, endorsement and medical card check

Person by person, with the driver or aide in front of you and the actual cards in their hand rather than a photocopy in a folder. License class and endorsements as they are printed on the card, expiry date read off it and recorded, medical examiner's certificate where the vehicle and the route call for one, and any restriction on the license checked against what that person is actually being sent out to drive. Record each as a dated item against that person, so the expiry counts down on the board and shows as expiring 30 days out rather than on the morning dispatch finds out. Twice a year, because most of these run on a multi-year cycle, and a six month look catches every one of them at least twice before it lapses. Telure records what you tell it and when it lapses; it does not issue, verify or endorse anybody's license, endorsement or medical certificate. Where your own state or your insurer sets the review frequency or the records you have to hold, that governs. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Park-up and return to service inspection

The two ends of a long stand, and they are the same walk done twice. Going in: each vehicle about to sit walked and recorded in the state it is being parked in, with battery condition noted, tires at pressure, exits closed, fluids topped or drained as the manual for that vehicle says, and the extinguisher, kits and loose equipment either left aboard and recorded or taken off and recorded. Coming back out: the same vehicle walked before it carries anybody, with everything that came off put back and proved rather than assumed, the lift cycled, belts and buckles worked, and rodent damage looked for in the harness, the seat cushions and the air intakes. Twice a year, because twice a year is how many times a fleet stands: a district parks for the summer, a camp parks for the winter, and the damage a stand does is invisible until somebody goes looking for it deliberately. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Trailer coupling, light and brake inspection

For every trailer the fleet tows, and for the hitch on the vehicle that tows it. Coupler and ball or pintle unworn and latching, safety chains crossed, hooked and long enough without dragging, breakaway cable and its battery present and proved, and the jack and its foot sound. Then the trailer itself: light connector clean and every lamp working with somebody watching from behind, brakes proved where the trailer has them, tires and rims checked the same way the tow vehicle's are, and the deck, ramp, sides and tie-down points sound with nothing bent or cracked at a weld. Twice a year, because a trailer is towed a handful of times a season and sits between, and everything that fails on one fails from sitting rather than from use: corrosion in the connector, a flat spot on a tire, a breakaway battery that went dead in a quiet corner of the yard. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Periodic inspection by a qualified inspector, with the certificate on the vehicle

Book a qualified inspector for every vehicle in the fleet, and when the inspection is done go out and look at the vehicle itself: the certificate, decal or sticker present, in the place it belongs, legible, and carrying the date the report actually shows. Copy what it says onto the registered vehicle as well, so the history survives a sticker that fades, peels, or disappears at the next body repair. File the report against this task, record who performed it and the qualification they hold, and open a corrective-action item for every cited defect, naming who owns it and when it is due in the item note, so each closure is on the record rather than in the inspector's copy of the form. A year is this pack's suggested cadence and not a requirement: where your own state, your jurisdiction or your insurer sets the frequency, the inspector's qualification or the form itself, that governs. Telure records the inspection; it does not issue, verify or endorse anybody's qualification. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.