Food Service Improvements: New Transport Carts

History

The partnership of School District No. 2 and Marriott School Services is committed to improving the food served to the children of Billings' schools. Much work has been done already towards this goal. This special report was created to help with the implementation of the goals established by School District No. 2 and Marriott School Services.

New transport carts are part of the upgrade plan. They will be used to enhance the quality of food served at the elementary schools. At the same time it is recognized the new transport carts will create some problems of their own. Building Research Institute of Montana (brim) was asked to help identify and provide suggestions to resolve those problems.

To understand the goals established by Darrin Helfrecht and Marriott School Services, it is important to review his report of June 11, 1996. Their ultimate goal is to improve food quality by having the ability to cook and serve some food on-site at every elementary school. To do this they need new transport carts to properly hold cooked and fresh products on-site.

The new carts will enable cooked food to be transported on the same pan without transferring the item to a different pan. The carts will also double as holding cabinets during service. The new carts will save time and result in an improved food product.

Problems/Solutions

Brim looked at some of the implementation problems that may have to be resolved before the new transport carts are in use at all of the elementary schools. Working closely with the other team members (Alan Anderson and Rich Whitney of Facilities Services, Darrin Helfrecht of Food Service, and Mike Dilly of Support Services) we were able to come up with a list of potential glitches in an effort to head off any major surprises down the road. Many of the items are brought up here for discussion purposes to facilitate communication and speed up the decision process.

The Sites

The school district has 38 sites listed. Of those sites 32 are schools. There are 24 elementary schools and the Grand Avenue building where food is presently being delivered. After review by the team members, 14 sites were recognized as potential problem sites. These 14 sites were visited, photographed and measured by brim to determine the extent of problems, if any.

Bench Elementary School
Truck backs up to a main side entry of the school. Doors open directly to the main corridor. The kitchen is directly off this main corridor. There are two steps with 13-inches combined height and ample porch space to drop the lift gate platform.

Bitterroot Elementary School
Truck backs up to the gym's side entrance. There are two concrete parking bumpers in the driveway that blocks the back tires. These will have to be moved forward at least 2-feet for the lift gate platform to clear the door if it is open. Also, there is a steel plate used as a ramp because the threshold is at least 1-1/2-inches higher than the concrete driveway.

Boulder Elementary School
The new transport cart cannot be brought down to the gym/cafeteria level which is 4-feet (seven risers) below grade without major modifications. Ramps do not appear to be a feasible approach although there is an exterior door used for delivery now where a ramp could be constructed. There would have to be 48 lineal feet of ramp with additional room for landings on each end and an intermediate one in the middle. The ramp would have to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. Landings have to be minimum 5-feet in width and length. Estimated cost is $25,000. In addition, some parking spaces will have to be rearranged.

If no ramp is used the cart can be brought into the school from the main entrance. The truck will have to back up over an existing curb to get off of the street during delivery. The cart would then have to be wheeled down the main corridor and stationed at the top of the stairs leading to the cafeteria. This would make it necessary for kitchen workers to move trays of possibly heavy and sometimes hot food down seven steps in the main corridor. The corridor and stairs are filled with children when lunch starts. An additional cart may be needed in the kitchen to hold the transferred food.

Another option for Boulder would be to purchase the convection oven discussed in phase two ahead of schedule to allow for more on-site cooking. This would reduce the need for the new transport cart at this school. Food items would be delivered in a similar manner to what is being done now-smaller carts and cartons being carried down the steps. Rose Park Elementary and Central Heights Elementary could use a similar scenario.

Broadwater Elementary School
The truck drives onto the playground and backs up to the multi-purpose room back door. There is a deteriorating concrete porch 5'-4" wide by 3'-9"with 3 steps totaling 16-inches in height. It appears that no modifications are required for delivery with lift gates to take place. However, the step should be repaired because the concrete is chipping away rather badly. When this repair is done, it would be prudent to redesign the porch with a bigger area for more efficient and safer deliveries.

Central Heights Elementary School
This school has the same floor plan and problems as Boulder School discussed in number 3 above. An estimate of $25,000 for a new ramp is the same but the orientation of the ramp would be different because there is more room between the building and the parking lot at Central Heights. The parking spaces would not have to be modified

If no ramp is used the cart can be brought into the main corridor from the west entrance. There is driveway access already to this entrance, but it is also used as a playground for recess. The same problem of stationing the cart at the top of the interior stairs exists at Central Heights as it does at Boulder. As with Boulder, another option would be to purchase a convection oven to reduce the need of the new transport cart.

Garfield Elementary School
There are two problems at Garfield that prevent inexpensive solutions to delivering the new transport cart. The delivery people were asked not to use the back door (the south door directly across the hall from the cafeteria) to avoid driving and backing up on the playground.

It is not as safe to drive onto a playground full of children and back up to a service door. Unfortunately, this is happening at other schools in the district every day. Ponderosa, Meadowlark, Bench, Washington, Highland, Broadwater, Newman, Rimrock, Poly, and Orchard are some of the more obvious ones.

Maybe there could be a compromise worked out to allow use of this back door. There may be ways to design a safer playground coupled with changes in the pedestrian traffic patterns going to and from the playground.

The other barrier for the use of the back door at Garfield is a high threshold. This can easily be replaced with a low handicapped style threshold. Additional weatherstripping or modifications to the door may be necessary.

The alternative to the back door is the northwest door near the parking lot. A concrete sidewalk would have to be removed and replaced with a concrete ramp that would rise almost 6-inches. To allow space for the delivery truck, changes would have to be made in the parking spaces with a loss of at least one space. This ramp may be built anyway for handicapped access. However, it seems plausible they could use the back door for handicapped access along with deliveries. Both doors access the same corridor and the same level. A new ramp would cost an estimated $2,500.

Highland Elementary School
The delivery people have to drive over much of the playground to reach the back door of the cafeteria. It is the same door used by children to access the playground at lunchtime. Highland has a concrete porch 15-inches high with limited space for deliveries. It appears possible to deliver with a lift gate but two barriers make it more difficult, a low canopy directly above the porch and a post in the middle of the porch holding up the canopy. While not critical, the design needs rethinking. When the lift gates are installed, the trucks will have to be placed precisely to avoid backing into the canopy but also close enough to allow the platform of the lift gate to reach the top of the porch.

McKinley Elementary School
A 6-1/2-inch high step keeps the delivery people from rolling carts through the door at the cafeteria. This school is unique because there is no porch to place the platform of the lift gate on. There is no easy way to add a porch because it would be in the way of the east entry to the school. The other restriction is a fence 10-feet from the building. This was installed apparently to separate the delivery trucks from the playground.

One option, without changing the fence and adding a porch, is to bring the transport cart through the east entry (the main entry of the addition, to the west of the kitchen entry). There is a steel grate in front of this entry that could give the tires of the transport cart some trouble.

Miles Avenue Elementary School
There is an 8-inch high concrete porch 6'-5" wide by 6'-0"at the kitchen entry which is adequate to place the lift gate platform on. It is reached by backing the truck up a steep asphalt ramp to make it over a 9-inch high concrete curb.

Newman Elementary School
Large porch area 8-1/2-inches high to place lift gate platform. There is a large piece of metal used as a ramp to negotiate the 1-1/2-inch high threshold at the doorway. The only way to access this entry is to drive over most of the playground and back up to the door while the children play. The threshold needs replacing. The door is 4-feet wide!

Rimrock Elementary School
Rimrock has a fence separating the playground from the delivery drive, similar to the situation at McKinley. The drive is still used as an access by the children to get to the playground. People pick up and drop off their children at all times of the day at this place. The concrete porch at the kitchen door has 5 risers and measures 29-inches high. This height necessitates a guardrail. The guardrail in place prohibits the lift gate platform from being lowered onto the top of the porch.

One option is to deliver the transport cart up the ramp at the main entry, through the main corridor and gym and then into the kitchen. The truck would back up perpendicular to the driveway it now uses and place the lift gate platform onto the top of the sidewalk to the south of the main entry. This school could use a smaller transport cart at this time because they only serve 100 meals. It would still require the use of the ramp but would not be as obtrusive going through the halls.

Rose Park Elementary School
This school has similar problems as Boulder and Central Heights. The same architect designed the buildings in a similar style within a few years of each other. They each have a sunken gym/cafeteria. The difference with Rose Park is you enter the building on the main level (no exterior step) even at the delivery door on the north side. Then, off the main corridor, 6 risers go down to the cafeteria level. This is another school where the transport cart would have to stay in the corridor if it is deemed safe enough. Children fill the corridor and the steps at lunchtime. New electrical outlets would be required. As with Boulder and Central Heights, another option would be to purchase a convection oven to reduce the need of the new transport cart.

Washington Elementary School
This school has a concrete porch 8'-0" wide by 5'-10" at the kitchen entry. The trucks back up to the 18-inch high porch between the main entry and another side entry of the school. This is another high pedestrian area. Part of the concrete driveway that was installed approximately 4-years ago is breaking up and needs to be replaced, this time with the proper reinforcing steel and thickness. This breakup is probably caused by the larger city garbage truck not by the smaller delivery trucks.

Grand Avenue Building
This building houses Even Start and Young Families programs. A concrete ramp accesses a 5-1/2-inch high concrete porch at the main entry. The bottom of the ramp has a small bump that may cause heavy carts some trouble. A metal plate is used as a ramp to negotiate a 2-1/2-inch high change in elevation between the outside porch and the building corridor inside. Presently, only sack lunches are delivered with no plans for transport carts to be used.

The Transport Carts

The transport carts being considered are approximately 32-1/2-inches x 34-1/4-inches by 61-inches tall. They weigh 385 pounds without food. They can reach temperatures of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The weight of the food varies but it was relayed that 200 pounds of additional weight would not be unusual. This totals 585 pounds. The bigger carts will require some changes at the base kitchens where they are stored and loaded. These changes need to be looked at in more detail.

The Trucks and Lift Gates

There will be 6 trucks retrofitted with lift gates to deliver transport carts and other food items. There should be an extra truck fitted with a lift gate to be used as a backup in case of a breakdown. The beds of the trucks are 36-inches high with small, steel bumpers 20-inches off the ground. This bumper is used to step up into the back of the truck. The bumpers will have to be cut off to accommodate the lift gates. Depending on the model eventually acquired through bidding, there may be some required modifications to the taillights and license plate mounting. The tall heavy transport carts will have to be restrained inside the truck during delivery. Some sort of bracket will be needed to tie them down easily and quickly.

The trucks will be kept out from the weather seal around the dock door at the warehouse by the width of the lift gate structural supports which appears to be around 5-inches. This may impact energy consumption and comfort inside the warehouse when the doors are open.

Care should be taken to ensure the proper lift gate platform size is chosen to accommodate the width of the carts. It appears 36-inches is the minimum available size required to handle a 32-1/2-inch wide cart. This may increase the estimated cost of the lift gates. The maintenance of the lift gates will increase operating costs.

The Delivery and Personnel

The existing delivery routes require a driver and a helper and are timed to the minute. Four hours is the maximum time that can be used for delivery and pickup to avoid increases in labor expenses. If the time goes over 4 hours it will be necessary to pay benefits to the workers. How much increase in time, if any, is required to operate the lift gates and handle the heavier carts?

Consideration should be given to the weight and height of the carts especially on ramps, door thresholds, rough surfaces and snow and ice. Can a heavy cart be easily rolled up onto a lift gate platform that has a 5-inch ramp? What is the maximum angle a cart can be tipped on any ramp without spilling liquids inside the cart? How does the operation of the controls of the lift gate impact the safe delivery of the carts?

Conclusion

Adding new transport carts is a task complicated by the number of sites and the amount of change required at one time. Implementing the important goal of improving the served product established by the school district and Marriott School Services will require coordination of talents. Working together as team members we can resolve the special problems with a minimum of time and effort.

Further study into the use of transport carts for satellite-feeding programs seems warranted. Contacting other communities that use transport carts and visiting their operation is an effective way to do this.

Mike Dilly suggested installing a lift gate on one truck for trial runs to ferret out any problems in the new system before changing everything over. It would be prudent to acquire a transport cart and load it with food for the trial runs. This will allow us to test our theories and eliminate some of the questions brought up. It will also go a long way in calming any concerns that are inherent in any new system.

Also, master planning for the base kitchens should be continued. We have already started this procedure at Riverside Middle School. We have learned that moving the walk-in freezer outside would free up space needed for the new transport carts. It also allows more room for food preparation and future expansion. Master planning of base kitchens prepares the school district for the future. When equipment breaks down it can be replaced according to a long-range plan. This saves time and money and the kitchen is run more efficiently.

The second and third phase of the food service upgrade plan require changes in the electrical power of some elementary school kitchens. The second phase calls for the addition of electric convection ovens. The third phase calls for new electric milk coolers that will give them more space in the existing refrigerators.

A study has begun to list the changes in the kitchens that may have to be made. At the same time we are looking at the future power requirements of the entire school. The addition of more computers and printers and other electrical equipment and appliances has made this a necessity.

This project is a challenge that is being met by the entire team. The following blueprint for action provides a reasonable guideline to complete the implementation of the new transport carts with a minimum of cost and delay.

Blueprint for Action

Decide what option to use at the three inaccessible schools.

Review the placement of the new transport carts at the base kitchens. Incorporate a 20-year master plan during this review process for future cost savings and efficiencies.

Review the lift gate and transport cart model options to select the optimum combination. Factor in maintenance costs. Report the new estimated costs incorporating all modifications required. Provide options for the procurement process to save money during bidding. This step alone could more than offset the cost of any study.

Research other satellite-feeding programs in the state to gain information quickly and cost effectively - learn from other people's successes.

Set up a trial run of the proposed equipment before buying. All participating sites should be included.

Assign tasks and establish a timetable for completion of the above items.