The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We’ve never been in this situation”
After nine months of breakdowns, mechanics and diesel engine experts still cannot determine what is wrong with the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority’s four new transit buses. After meeting with the bus dealership’s representative, the RTA board set a deadline of October 1 to determine if the buses will be roadworthy for winter, and if legal action will be necessary.
On Friday, August 15, the RTA met with Jeff Konza, a salesman with Colorado/West Inc., the bus dealership in Denver that sold the RTA the buses last year. All four of the buses, which cost approximately $250,000 each, have been repeatedly sent back to the dealership to solve mechanical issues. Konza said Colorado/West was happy to provide service to the buses under warranty, while meeting a list of mechanical troubles and defects the RTA has identified. Except for one.
Prior to the meeting, the RTA had asked the dealership to extend the warranty in consideration of the numerous mechanical issues. Konza said he was not in a position to provide an extended warranty for the Cummins engine in the bus, but believed the engine manufacturer would soon recognize the problem and extend the warranty.
Due to a federal regulation passed in 2007, the diesel engines on any transit bus must have a special filter to trap emissions. The filters are designed to clean themselves every 500 to 1,000 miles, or else they get clogged and restrict the engine. Konza said some kind of software error was preventing the filters from self-cleaning.
In other communities, similar buses with the same Cummins engines have experienced trouble with the special filter. Konza said in each case they were able to find ways to reprogram the software controlling the filter to make them work. All that and more has been tried with the RTA’s buses, and Konza said neither he, nor Cummins, could explain why they still malfunctioned. Konza said experts from Cummins were trying to figure out the problem. “Cummins has not yet effected a solution,” Konza said.
“We’ve found some challenges with these four buses we haven’t seen with any of the others,” Konza said.
For the RTA board, it wasn’t a confidence-inspiring discussion.
Board member Skip Berkshire said to Konza, “I think everybody appreciates the efforts. You want to solve the problems too, there’s no question about that. But from the consumer’s point of view you get the point where you cannot continue to do business like this.
“I’m not worried about specifics, because I know you’re working on them. I’m more worried about the global issue. At what point do we say, ‘Hey we need a different answer, we need a different bus’… something that operates,” Berkshire said.
Konza said he would not be able to provide any replacement bus that did not have the same engine, and likely, the same problems. “I’m stuck,” he said.
Alpine Express owner Woody Sherwood said that while a replacement bus may have the same engine, the rest of the electrical components would be different and that might have an effect on the filter’s performance. “If you involve a different manufacturer, you involve a different control system for all these things, so there may not be all the little gremlins in them.”
RTA board member William Buck asked, “What is your responsibility in terms of satisfying our agreement, to have serviceable buses.”
Konza said, “I don’t know how far I have to go. We’ve never been in this situation. You bought the bus from me, we’ll figure out what the solution would be.”
And if they cannot find a solution, Konza said, the dealership would entertain any suggestions from the RTA.
Berkshire asked, “At what point is that?”
Buck suggested October 1.
Board member Hap Channell asked, “At what point does it become a legal issue, when we get lawyers involved?”
Board member Jim Starr said, “I think that’s at the point we feel we won’t have reliable buses through the winter. That’s October 1.”
“That’s a heads-up to you,” Buck said to Konza.
Konza said he, and a representative from the manufacturing plant, North American Bus Industries, would be present at the RTA’s September 12 meeting to discuss progress on fixing the buses.
