San Francisco opened its new Central Shops fleet service center in July 2018, moving from a six-acre lot to a four-acre lot. Don Jones, fleet operations manager, gave Government Fleet and members for the Municipal Equipment Maintenance Association (MEMA) a tour of its heavy equipment and fire shops on Nov. 5.
San Francisco Fleet Facility Tour
The administration building includes office space upstairs, including training and meeting rooms.
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Fleet vehicles are parked in a fenced area where the heavy shop and administration building is housed.
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A decommissioning area houses vehicles about to be auctioned off.
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The new shop has hose reels for dispensing liquids, replacing 55-gallon barrels at the old shop.
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The fire truck shop.
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A crane (at top) allow technicians to lft heavy parts off vehicles, such as a boom off a boom truck and ladders off of lader trucks.
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A three-axle in-ground lift is used for aerial fire trucks, while a two-axle in-ground lift is used for fire engines. This allows technicianns to pull the wheels off to do brake work.
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The San Francisco Fire Department uses wooden ladders because they're insulated against wires when working near electric trolley buses. Another bonus is that wooden ladders can be repaired. Fleet staff make and repair ladders, as well as patterns for truck parts.
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Visitors who enter the building first encounter the service center.
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In the heavy shop, vehicle lifts are strategically placed. Many stalls are left without lifts, and technicians can use mobile lifts so they can be moved out of the way.
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A lunch and meeting room can be partitioned off, allowing employees to have lunch while meetings are happening in the other half of the room.
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The two buildings that make up San Francisco's Central Shops have a toal of 106 square feet.
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A tire carousel with six levels of tires also helps with space in the parts room.
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Two vertical lift modules hold as many parts as the entire parts room did at the old shop.
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