RICHLAND, Wash. - EM Office of River Protection (ORP) contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) recently added technology to improve how it manages general purpose vehicles and installed self-powered GPS units on large pieces of equipment.
WRPS, which manages Hanford’s tank operations, currently operates 435 vehicles provided by the U.S. Government Services Administration or are commercially leased.
The company installed cellular-based telemetry units to the general purpose vehicles to improve accuracy and efficiency with tracking vehicle use rates by transmitting location, mileage, fuel consumption, the number of trips, and other data.
Installing this wireless technology eliminated the need for vehicle usage logs, which operators had been required to update after each use. The logs had to be collected, reviewed and submitted by each company organization, then manually entered into a database every month.
“The bottom line is that the telemetry system improves accuracy and saves time," said WRPS’s Mike Kalinowski, who managed the project. “Not only does the system eliminate the need for the field to fill out and process written vehicle logs, but the data it collects also is more accurate and helps with vehicle type selection and route planning."
WRPS installed GPS units on more than 250 pieces of equipment and vehicles owned by DOE. The units provide location data for equipment that includes radiologically controlled vehicles, light plants, generators, compressors, aerial lifts, and utility vehicles.
“GPS allows us to eliminate time-consuming field walk-downs to locate equipment, perform maintenance activities in a timely manner, and limit cost through reduced equipment rental," said James Devere, WRPS property manager.
“This technology has the potential to greatly improve efficiency and accountability in the use of our vehicle fleet and other equipment," said Ken Johnson, ORP property manager for tank farms. “We look forward to reviewing the results of the data from these units in the coming months."
The project team plans to begin installing nearly 50 more GPS units soon, and additional units will be procured if the equipment and vehicle pool increases.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
