March 15, 2006
Motor Diagnostics and Motor Health Newsletter
From the President
I have returned from the RCM/EAM-2006 conference in Las Vegas, NV. It was an excellent conference and show.
On the short trip from the Orleans Hotel, I learned more about the intricacies of the taxi driver industry than I thought existed. The discussion even expanded to cover the professional taxi driver and the casual driver. The driver I got in with had over 20 years in the industry, knew almost all of the streets of the major cities he has worked in throughout the USA, understood the rules and regulations for each area and stayed up to date. We discussed the best vehicles for the different areas, vehicle maintenance, seat condition and its impact, customer service, dealing with awkward situations, etc. The man was passionate about what he did, and it showed. In fact, he was planning another move to help out yet another taxi company get established, in a consulting role, but still doing what he enjoyed most – driving.
The point that I immediately picked up on was that I was sitting with the consummate Knowledge Worker. I realized that most management and executives within industry view the R&M professional in much the same way as most of us view taxi drivers: We take them for granted. Yet, as the organizer of the RCM/EAM-2006 conference discovered, while he was picking up materials from a local store, when that service was lacking, he was stuck literally holding the bags. In fact, another one of the organizers had to put aside her valuable time to get in a taxi at the hotel, pay to drive out to the store and return. The result was a loss of resources during setup and an increased cost to the program.
What would happen to many of our towns and cities, worldwide, if we were to lose the infrastructure of the taxi? In the case of Las Vegas, I used a taxi to pick me up from the airport and drop me off at the hotel, I was able to walk down to the taxi stand at any time and get a ride to other areas in the strip (casinos, shows, etc.) where I left a little money with the businesses. At the end of the RCM show, I was able to walk down and get a quick ride to the airport.
Through all this, I assumed that the drivers knew their jobs, were safe and knew their way around town. How could I make that assumption? >From what I learned, in addition to training, testing, etc., some drivers, like the one I met, are in demand everywhere to mentor other drivers, help the taxi businesses they worked for meet requirements and work with their management in ways to help them survive and make a profit.
With changes already happening in the R&M industry, with our aging workforce and loss of knowledge, who is, or are, your taxi drivers?
Sincerely,
Howard W Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP
President, SUCCESS by DESIGN
www.motordoc.net
