Twitter
Facebook
Long lines, impatient customers and subjective opinions. These are just a few of the things people encountered during their vehicle inspection on Kapaun Air Station. The 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron would like to eliminate these concerns with recent changes to their vehicle inspection process.
Vehicle inspections are required when registering, selling or shipping a vehicle, and the 86th VRS operates the Privately Owned Vehicle Inspection Center on Kapaun. According to 86th VRS Privately Owned Vehicle Inspection Center NCOIC Tech Sgt. Anthony Santos, wait times previously exceeded 45 minutes per customer but now averages about 20 minutes.
“The customers’ concerns and suggestions are what drove the changes to the POV inspection process,” Santos said.
One of those changes included implementing a reinspection lane for returning customers which reduces wait times by not duplicating the same procedures as the initial inspection lane. Another change is the newly installed calibrated brake machine which eliminated the need to road-test brakes.
“By getting rid of the brake road test, we were able to knock off three minutes of inspection time per vehicle, and we got rid of any subjectivity by the inspectors,” Santos said.
The calibrated brake machine tests for brake imbalance between all brakes which are a safety hazard. With the new machine, inspection technicians are able to diagnose which brake is off or causing issues and exactly what percentage the brake is off by.
The inspection center provides free mechanical inspections to members of the KMC and inspects up to 200 vehicles per day. The center’s objective is to ensure privately owned vehicles are safe to operate and in accordance with U.S. Army Europe guidelines.
“We provide this service to all branches, DOD civilians and contractors within the KMC,” Santos said. “We want vehicle occupants to be safe, so we try to minimize all risks.”
The 86th VRS is also awaiting the installation of a vehicle suspension shaker. This device will allow the vehicle to hang in the air while it is inspected underneath.
“We currently have two inspectors per vehicle. Once we have the suspension shaker, it will eliminate the need for two people as one person will be able to inspect a vehicle,” said Master Sgt. Timothy Trace, 86 VRS vehicle maintenance superintendent. “We’ll be able to serve more customers in a shorter amount of time.”
For questions regarding the inspection process, go to the Kapaun Air Station POV Inspection Station Interactive Customer Evaluation Survey at http://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm fa=site&site_id=10&dep=DoD, click on “Safety and Security,” and then click “POV Inspection Station.”
