TMC taking EV maintenance to task (forces) at annual meeting

[Mike]

The trucks will shed engines and aftertreatment systems, but there will be new tire spec’ing practices, different lubricants and areas that could leak, and visible vapor areas to detect.

“These are all service-related things that our members say need some sort of best practices or standardization, and we're working on all those issues,” Braswell asserted.

Understanding who can even perform maintenance on EVs will be at the top of the agenda. Braswell heard form bus fleets that manufacturers insist on being the ones to maintain the vehicles, taking agency away from the shops.

“That’s not the way fleets operate,” the TMC leader said. “And so where is the line here? Are fleets going to be able to work on these things or not? Do you have to be a licensed electrician to work on [an] electric vehicle? It's not clear. So we have a task force to try to figure all that out.”

He also noted that other task forces will examine how to do pre-tip inspections on EVs and what metrics to use to measure efficiency and performance.

TMC taking EV maintenance to task (forces) at annual meeting

TMC's Robert Braswell shares what to expect at the annual meeting, where electrification will be front and center. Technician training and nuclear verdicts also are on the agenda...

www.fleetowner.com

 

[Mike]

If I was attending TMC this year, this is an area I would be particularly interested in attending. Much of the cost of electric trucks will come in the area of maintenance because I imagine it will be next to impossible to handle maintenance as in individual (for a while at least), and it will take quite some time to ramp up the training for technicians to be able to touch these things.

 

[Electric Chicken]

TMC in this case not being the trucking company?

 

[Mike]

TMC in this case not being the trucking company?

Nope, its a council within ATA

TMC 2026 Annual Meeting | ATA Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition

tmcannual.trucking.org

 

[Electric Chicken]

If I can maintain this home every day thing I could honestly see myself with an EV truck and a big ol transformer out back.

 

[Mike]

If I can maintain this home every day thing I could honestly see myself with an EV truck and a big ol transformer out back.

When the hybrid escape first came out, the schooling we had to go to was insane with warnings of electrocution.

One of the special tools sent to the dealer was a hard plastic pole. Repair guidelines involving the battery required a 2nd person to be standing by with the pole during repairs to knock you away from the battery if needed.

 

[Rigjockey]

That is something I had not even considered, would it be mechanics or electricians working on these vehicles?
As it is techs need to be wrenchers and computer people. Now throw in the electric element and only Elon Musk himself will be able to work on these things.
(Or Elon approved and trained techs).

They would be known as the Elon Musketeers

 

[Mike]

That is something I had not even considered, would it be mechanics or electricians working on these vehicles?
As it is techs need to be wrenchers and computer people. Now throw in the electric element and only Elon Musk himself will be able to work on these things.
(Or Elon approved and trained techs).

They would be known as the Elon Musketeers

Electrical issues have long been the weak point in shops. Lots of mechanics simply struggle at diagnosing electrical circuits.

It will likely be very costly to put one of these trucks in a shop without warranty coverage because mass amounts of very expensive parts will be thrown while guessing what is wrong with them.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Electrical issues have long been the weak point in shops. Lots of mechanics simply struggle at diagnosing electrical circuits.

It will likely be very costly to put one of these trucks in a shop without warranty coverage because mass amounts of very expensive parts will be thrown while guessing what is wrong with them.

My understanding is these things don't actually have massive amounts of parts. They'd just stare at the thing in confusion.

 

[389 Hood]

A Digital Multi-meter, basic electrical knowledge and knowing what the meter is telling you as far as the read-outs go will be what it needed the most. Without knowing the values of the items being tested all the tools in the world won't tell you what is wrong. This is where a diagnostician is going to be able to demand his money. Parts changers will do just what EC said, just stare in confusion.

 

[Electric Chicken]

A Digital Multi-meter, basic electrical knowledge and knowing what the meter is telling you as far as the read-outs go will be what it needed the most. Without knowing the values of the items being tested all the tools in the world won't tell you what is wrong. This is where a diagnostician is going to be able to demand his money. Parts changers will do just what EC said, just stare in confusion.

Wires don't scare me. It's where they route them that scares me.

 

[389 Hood]

Yeah, I don't fit into those small channels. And those 24ga wires are a bitch to follow there are so many in a harness.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Can you imagine restoring a classic Tesla semi because it was your dad's?



I'm sure those trucks will be pre-SOMETHING at some point. Haha

 

[Electric Chicken]

Yeah, I don't fit into those small channels. And those 24ga wires are a bitch to follow there are so many in a harness.

Back in the day I was proud of myself for finding a break in the wagon's engine harness. And it only ran from one junction box across the motor to another. Like 4 whole feet. And I was able to unplug each end, unwrap the loom, and fix it in my bedroom.

That was easy. Compared to when it's some tiny wire among 800 wires routed up through the dash and out the firewall.

 

[Electric Chicken]

It's like when you have a bad ground and there are 48 you know about and 2 you don't.

 

[389 Hood]

When I first got my Pete, the dash made no sense at all. There was no grouping to the gauges. I figured that I would put them in the order that I wanted them. No way! I found a set up sheet naming each gauge and where on the dash that it was set up to be in the harness and then coded into the body control module. Ain't nothing like the old trucks where a wire went from the sending unit to the gauge. Everything is routed through a control module.

 

[389 Hood]

Wait until a little salt corrosion starts to work on the connecting terminals. The entire unit will go haywire. Even with today's vehicles, what is so hard about using a little dielectric grease on each plug-in connection. That stuff is a connections best friend when used with shrink wrap.

 

[Electric Chicken]

My Mack instrument cluster is one big assembly with one plug in the back and it all comes out as a unit.

Edit: actually it might be 3 plugs. It's either left, center, and right or just one in the middle. I forget actually. I took it all apart last year to clean out some of the limestone dust.

 

[389 Hood]

I like the trans temp first, forward rear end, then rear, rear end. Why put the trans gauge above the rear, rear and the forward rear, on the other side of the dash? I'll get a pic and show you. There is absolutely no organization to how the gauges are set up.

At least I don't have to scroll through a list of menus like a Vulva truck has! I want to glance at something and see it's condition, not have to take my eyes away from the road to see what is happening with the most important things on the truck. Out of 12 gauges, none of them have any pattern to them.

My trucks had 22 gauges. You only get air gauges on today's trucks because the DOT cop doesn't have to lean too far inside the cab to see them or scroll through a menu.

Rant over!