Fort Bend ISD transportation officials have issued a statement clarifying earlier claims that only buses needing transmission repairs were sent to a private shop in Channelview.
In an e-mail message forwarded to Fort Bend Now, Transportation Director Richard Torres conceded that buses were also sent to Lassetter-LaFour for such issues as engines leaking oil, air conditioning malfunctions and other issues. He had earlier said the firm was only used to do transmission repairs, which the Fort Bend ISD maintenance staff was not equipped to handle.
The issue came to light just over a week ago when sources close to the district’s transportation department provided Fort Bend Now with over two dozen invoices for bus repair work done by Lassetter–LaFour. The invoices, which are dated from May of 2007 to January of this year, showed thousands of dollars of repair work done to district buses.
Transportation employees said the invoices were indicative of how much the district was spending because mechanics are driving bus routes instead of working on the buses. The district has been struggling with a shortage of bus drivers, and has often been forced to use mechanics and supervisory personnel to drive bus routes.
“It’s not unusual at all that mechanics have to be used to drive routes,” one driver said. “When you’re running the routes twice a day, it doesn’t leave the time needed to work on the buses, so the district is having to send them out.”
Another driver said it’s a sore spot to see the district saying it does not have the money to pay drivers more, but at the same time be willing to spend thousands of dollars on outside repair work.
“The money they could save by using their own mechanics to do the work could be used to give the bus drivers a raise,” the driver said.
In response to the allegations, the district said the bus drivers are talking about repairs that could not have been done by district mechanics and need to be sent to specialized repair shops. The outsourcing was not related to staffing issues, district spokesperson Mary Ann Simpson said.
“(It) is important to know that we are not sending buses to Lassetter- LaFour because we do not have enough mechanics. The buses sent to LaFour are for specific work on the transmission – work that the district is not able to perform,” Simpson said in an e-mailed statement. “We do not repair transmissions in-house because it requires a special expertise and tools which we do not have. Lassiter LaFour was in fact awarded our bid for transmission repair work.”
Transportation Director Richard Torres added that the transmission work done by Lassetter-LaFour came with a warranty.
“Lassetter-LaFour represents a vendor that primarily is used to repair and or provide rebuilt transmission(s) for district vehicles. In most cases when a transmission has reached the end of its life cycle, the transmission is replaced by a rebuilt transmission rather than having the transmission repaired in-house,” Torres pointed out. “This course of action is typically what most schools districts exercise. Furthermore, it will allow the customer or district the ability to receive the rebuilt transmission with a full warranty. This is no different than if a starter or alternator reached the end of its life cycle. In short, these particular types of equipment require a specific work/repair environment and special tools to even attempt to repair in-house.”
A review of the invoices provided to Fort Bend Now revealed that while many did involve transmission work, almost a dozen were for non-transmission issues. Those invoices total over $17,000.
“Upon further review of this matter, it appears that Lassetter-LaFour did assist the transportation department repair several Thomas buses that had internal engine compression issues. These buses were, in fact, leaking oil as the result of broken rings within the engine,” Torres noted. “These buses were out of warranty, but the overall condition of the buses warranted the need to repair these units. This is another type of repair that is not done in-house.
Torres added that his department took immediate action to repair the buses since failure to act on that type of repair can result in further engine damage or even the total loss of the engine. For that reason, the decision to repair the buses at Lassetter-LaFour allowed the district to curtail or minimize the costs associated to rectify the problem, Torres explained.
Some air conditioning work was also outsourced to the private company, Torres added.
(T)here were several buses that Lassetter assisted within the realm of air conditioning repair. It appears the department outsourced these buses to Lassetter in an attempt to expedite the repair of some special needs buses in order to provide students with the necessary equipment they require. This was an isolated issue and this option was exercised as a last resort,” Torres said.
The decision to outsource bus repairs often involves a number of considerations, Torres pointed out, none of which were associated with a shortage of maintenance staff.
“There are unique circumstances within each organization which requires the need to delegate accordingly. This same principle exists within any fleet maintenance department,” Torres noted. “Priorities must be established that may warrant the need to outsource repair to those entities that encompasses the required knowledge and skill to perform a repair more swiftly and efficiently than the district is capable of.”
Torres also addressed a number of other repairs listed in the invoices, including front-end repairs, rewiring a stop sign and a water leak.
“There are four items that have been noted, these items represent troubleshooting an engine for oil leaks, repair conducted on the front end of a bus. The other issues focus on the rewire of a particular stop-sign circuit and lastly the issue of troubleshooting a water leak in an engine. Although these issues may appear to be a minor in nature, they can be cost prohibited for a generic shop to diagnose and ultimately attempt to repair,” Torres said. “To address the issue surrounding items noted in the report such as air filter replacement and the rewire of a starter, simply put these items were either part of the respective repair or were items that Lassetter-LaFour discovered as a need to replace (while) the bus was in their possession.”
Torres stressed there are some cases in which outsourcing bus repairs is in the district’s best interest.
“It appears there are various issues or concerns that stem from within this issue. The reality is that it takes an enormous amount of resources to sustain a vast transportation fleet,” Torres explained. “There are a number of parameters or variables that must be calculated each day to accomplish one of the districts’ many goals; to ultimately provide its employees and students with the safest equipment possible. This endeavor may require the district to seek professional assistance form those entities that their expertise will allow the district to better make use of its assets.”
