Narrative:

While working all tower positions combined; airport vehicle; a regular on the airfield and having completed an excessive number of runway crossings; called to proceed from taxiway A-2 to taxiway bravo and echo. I asked vehicle to confirm he needed/wanted to cross runway 19; and he acknowledged by starting his vehicle moving and reading back that he was crossing runway 19. I corrected him; again advising him that I had not cleared or authorized him to cross runway 19; but only asked if that was his intentions; vehicles regularly go around the approach end of runway 19 to get from taxiway alpha to taxiway bravo. He advised that he did indeed desire to cross runway 19; so I authorized the airport vehicle to cross runway 19 at the approach end. I recommend that the savannah airport change; update or revise their aoa driving course to ensure that all vehicles specifically request to cross active runways. They are taught to require ATC to give them the crossing clearance; but do not actually request to cross the runway. Additionally; they seldom report crossing completed in accordance with the sav/sac letter of agreement. The current trend; and this is only very recently; has been to always make each transmission into a bunch of calls; further tying up the frequency and controllers. They begin every request with an obligatory initial call to 'wake us up' then once they have our attention; advise us where they are and where they want to go. ATC likes the part where they no longer tell us how they desire to go; which created bad scenarios; but by their vague or stealth requests to cross runways; combined with the unprecedented in-experience level at the sav ATCT; makes the perfect combination for a series or serious runway incursion or incident. Active runways are sacred ground in our world; if the vehicles would specifically request the needed runway crossings at sav like they do at most airports; we can ensure that runway safety is a priority once again at sav. Bottom line: aircraft call to cross runways; ATC clears them across active runways; airport vehicles should call to cross runways; so ATC can clear them across the active runways.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SAV Controller voiced concern regarding the airport vehicle operations with regard to crossing runways. The reporter listed incomplete requests and failures to comply with LOA requirements.

Narrative: While working all Tower positions combined; airport vehicle; a regular on the airfield and having completed an excessive number of runway crossings; called to proceed from Taxiway A-2 to Taxiway Bravo and Echo. I asked vehicle to confirm he needed/wanted to cross Runway 19; and he acknowledged by starting his vehicle moving and reading back that he was crossing Runway 19. I corrected him; again advising him that I had not cleared or authorized him to cross Runway 19; but only asked if that was his intentions; vehicles regularly go around the approach end of Runway 19 to get from Taxiway Alpha to Taxiway Bravo. He advised that he did indeed desire to cross Runway 19; so I authorized the airport vehicle to cross Runway 19 at the approach end. I recommend that the Savannah Airport change; update or revise their AOA driving course to ensure that all vehicles specifically request to cross active runways. They are taught to require ATC to give them the crossing clearance; but do not actually request to cross the runway. Additionally; they seldom report crossing completed in accordance with the SAV/SAC Letter of Agreement. The current trend; and this is only very recently; has been to always make each transmission into a bunch of calls; further tying up the frequency and controllers. They begin every request with an obligatory initial call to 'wake us up' then once they have our attention; advise us where they are and where they want to go. ATC likes the part where they no longer tell us HOW they desire to go; which created bad scenarios; but by their vague or stealth requests to cross runways; combined with the unprecedented in-experience level at the SAV ATCT; makes the perfect combination for a series or serious runway incursion or incident. Active runways are sacred ground in our world; if the vehicles would specifically request the needed runway crossings at SAV like they do at most airports; we can ensure that runway safety is a priority once again at SAV. Bottom line: Aircraft call to cross runways; ATC clears them across active runways; airport vehicles should call to cross runways; so ATC can clear them across the active runways.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.