Many of the Leading Fleets award recipients  are pictured here after The Honors Celebration  at the Government Fleet Expo & Conference (GFX) on June 10.  Photo by Gene Tewksbury.

Many of the Leading Fleets award recipients
are pictured here after The Honors Celebration
at the Government Fleet Expo & Conference (GFX) on June 10. Photo by Gene Tewksbury.

The Leading Fleets awards program recognizes 50 public sector fleet organizations for their leadership, efficiency, and vision for the future. The award, open to public fleets, encourages fleets to strive for excellence. In addition to the rankings for the top 20 fleets, the award also recognizes fleets in size categories to distinguish the differing challenges fleets of various sizes face.

This year's award is sponsored by Ford.


No. 1 Small Fleet (499 or fewer assets: City of Ventura, Calif.

The City of Ventura, Calif., has a fleet of 394 units. The city sits along the coast between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara and provides services to 109,000 residents.

“By providing clear direction, setting expectations for outcomes, recognizing accomplishments, motivating and encouraging fleet staff to embrace changes in technology, and empowering them to use their own judgment when completing maintenance and repair of vehicles, we have fostered an environment of open communication, teamwork, mutual respect and trust, all with an element of fun,” said Mary Joyce Ivers, CPFP, fleet and facilities manager.

Its vision is to continue expanding into repair and maintenance projects currently being contracted out, such as fabrication, vehicle upfit, and refurbishing. Fleet also hopes to offer its services to other government and non-profit agencies.

This is the second year the City of Ventura fleet was awarded the No. 1 small fleet award.  Photo courtesy of City of Ventura

This is the second year the City of Ventura fleet was awarded the No. 1 small fleet award. Photo courtesy of City of Ventura


No. 1 Mid-Size Fleet (500-999 assets): Orange County Sanitation District, Calif.

The Orange County Sanitation District in Fountain Valley, Calif., provides wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal services. The special district has a fleet of 670 vehicles.

“We are honored to be recognized with these awards. The award process has helped identify our fleet’s strengths and opportunities for improvement. Actively listening to our customers, networking regionally and nationally, and being active members of MEMA and other associations build relationships that help us continually learn and grow,” said Nick Arhontes, director of facilities support services.

In the next five years, the team expects to expand telematics use and confirm key performance indicators (KPIs) are on target. Fleet will continue to support technicians with technical training, licensing, certification and tuition reimbursement, and development pay.

The Orange County Sanitation District has programs to motivate and make staff more successful at their jobs.  Photo courtesy of OCSD

The Orange County Sanitation District has programs to motivate and make staff more successful at their jobs. Photo courtesy of OCSD


No. 1 Large Fleet (1,000 or more assets): City of Boise, Idaho

The City of Boise, Idaho, Fleet Services manages a fleet of more than 1,500 vehicles. In addition to being the No. 1 large fleet, the city’s Fleet Services is also the No. 1 overall fleet in the Leading Fleets program. For more information about this operation, click here.

The City of Boise has been an ASE Blue Seal shop for 15 consecutive years.  Photo courtesy of City of Boise

The City of Boise has been an ASE Blue Seal shop for 15 consecutive years. Photo courtesy of City of Boise


The top 20 Leading Fleets (including ties) are ranked below.

1 City of Boise, ID

Contact: Craig Croner
Units: 991 on-road; 523 off-road           
Staff: 15
Maint. Facilities: 3         
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet was challenged with determining the potential savings of leasing major equipment versus purchasing. Staff concluded that leasing equipment would free up budget in the short run, and with low interest rates, would result in only a slightly higher total cost of ownership over the lease period. Staff members worked with the mayor, City Council, and the legal team to identify legitimate language allowing the city to utilize lease funding to procure new equipment. The successful use of lease funding created cash flow savings of $739,000 during the first year, with additional savings in future years.

2 City of Sacramento, CA

Contact: Steve Barker
Units: 1,771 on-road; 580 off-road
Staff: 74
Maint. Facilities: 6         
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet wanted to consolidate data on driver performance to increase employee awareness of how driving behavior impacts sustainability and collisions. Fleet implemented a pilot program with Remote Vehicle Analytics (RVA) and installed 150 devices on vehicles. The city achieved 20-25% fuel savings since implementation and will retrofit 400 additional vehicles with RVA.

3 City of Tulsa, OK

Contact: Brian Franklin
Units: 2,444 on-road; 635 off-road
Staff: 79
Maint. Facilities: 4
Overcoming Challenges: The fleet was losing skilled technicians due to retirement and low pay. To resolve this issue, a temp agency recruited candidates in advance of known vacancies; positions were advertised before they became vacant; overtime work was assigned; workload and staffing levels were balanced between shops; and more repairs were outsourced. As a result, 2014 fleet availability stayed level with the prior year. Meanwhile, a job study is expected to improve staff pay and help retain more technicians, and high school students interning at the automotive shop are being recruited for permanent employment.

4 City of Fort Worth, TX

Contact: Wayne Corum
Units: 2,811 on-road; 729 off-road
Staff: 106
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: The fleet had a problem with getting fuel transactions from its 43 manual fuel sites and 20 automated fuel sites into the fleet management system in a timely manner for the preventive maintenance (PM) program. Fleet began seeking vendors to award a contract within this year to automate a large group of manual sites and some of the automated sites that have old systems. The new system will more accurately monitor fuel inventory and update transactions quicker for better PM.

5 County of San Diego, CA

Contact: Sharyl Blackington
Units: 3,700 on-road; 280 off-road
Staff: 59
Maint. Facilities: 8         
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s biggest challenge was to overcome a loss in direct labor hours due to unanticipated employee absences. Last year, direct labor decreased by 4,000 hours, resulting in a loss in revenue of more than $420,000. In collaboration with Human Resources, fleet hired temporary technicians and asked some technicians to work overtime. These steps helped recover lost work hours and allowed fleet to meet its projected budget goals.

6 City of Columbus, OH

Contact: Kelly Reagan
Units: 3,025 on-road; 3,376 off-road
Staff: 119
Maint. Facilities: 4
Overcoming Challenges: Columbus’ challenge was in meeting its initiative of reducing petroleum consumption by 5% by the end of 2014 (compared to 2010). Fleet surpassed this goal, reducing consumption by almost 13% (437,272 gallons). Additionally, it opened its second CNG fueling station and began designing a third station. Anti-idling technology on 90 new cruisers reduced idling by 35%, further reducing gasoline consumption.

7 County of San Bernardino, CA

Contact: Roger Weaver
Units: 2,985 on-road; 434 off-road
Staff: 113
Maint. Facilities: 6
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s biggest challenge was managing innovation and modernization while controlling costs and avoiding duplication. Telematics, automated fueling, and car sharing technologies are proprietary and difficult to utilize without purchasing redundant systems. Fleet consolidated these technologies at the lowest cost while improving services by pushing its fleet software and telematics providers to interface mileage and location activity into one system and eliminate mileage capture during fueling.

8 Manatee County, FL

Contact: Michael Brennan
Units: 1,003 on-road; 343 off-road        
Staff: 33
Maint. Facilities: 4         
Overcoming Challenges: The fleet’s most significant challenge has been completing its planned technological, safety, and facility advancements on schedule as three long-time team members retired. Fleet has accomplished: installation of its bulk oil system at all facilities; enhancement of 150 additional units with on-board gateway telematics; and continued automation of its parts operation, expanding stock part inventory by $40,000, which saved more than 70 days of downtime in the first two months.

9 City of Rochester, NY

Contact: Mike Quattrone
Units: 1,040 on-road; 164 off-road
Staff: 69
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: The fleet’s biggest challenge has been implementation of a single fueling chip key for a “green” fueling station shared across multiple public agencies. The chip key had to be assigned to the vehicle, with every employee receiving a new PIN and being trained on the new procedure. After much research, fleet staff became the experts in this area and aided in the configuring of the system for this type of implementation.

10 City of Fort Wayne, IN

Contact: Larry Campbell
Units: 1,170 on-road; 725 off-road
Staff: 28
Maint. Facilities: 2         
Overcoming Challenges: With fleet growth and larger equipment size, the lack of space at the existing facility, built in 1954, caused issues.  The facility is old but it meets all codes and is OSHA compliant. It has had some updates within the past 10 years: new energy-­efficient windows, lighting, roof, floors capped, heating systems, and Wi-Fi. All of this has helped lower utility bills, and each saw a return on investment within five years of each project, with some being less than two years. 

10  Orange County Sanitation District, CA

Contact: Nick Arhontes
Units: 180 on-road; 490 off-road
Staff: 8
Maint. Facilities: 2         
Overcoming Challenges: A sewer cleaning truck had continuous issues with diesel engine emission controls. The truck was at the chassis dealer many times over the past three years, resulting in vehicle downtime. The dealer couldn’t resolve the problem. The sewer truck dealer ultimately intervened and replaced the sewer truck with a different make under warranty. The persistence of the fleet team saved ratepayers significant costs and improved customer relations both internally and externally.

12 Lee County, FL

Contact: Marilyn Rawlings
Units: 950 on-road; 900 off-road
Staff: 26
Maint. Facilities: 2         
Overcoming Challenges: Plummeting real estate values and the associated reduction in the county’s taxable income for the past five years has made fleet operations difficult. Fleet extended equipment life well beyond the norm, repair costs escalated, and fleet personnel were cut. These factors and others resulted in many equipment breakdowns, back-ordered parts, no availability of back-up equipment, and escalating crew/­equipment downtime. To respond, fleet began off-site repairs and sent more work to vendors to satisfy customers.

13 City of Orlando, FL

Contact: David Dunn
Units: 2,780 on-road; 292 off-road
Staff: 55
Maint. Facilities: 1         
Overcoming Challenges: An aging base of core technicians and the rapid pace of technology in fleet vehicles has made it difficult for fleet to deliver services. All new vehicle acquisitions include extensive training for technicians, and this training is made available to local colleagues and trade school students. Opening up the classes to trade schools gives the fleet access to a new pool of recruits.

14 City of Houston, TX

Contact: Victor Ayres
Units: 10,302 on-road; 1,488 off-road
Staff: 394
Maint. Facilities: 27
Overcoming Challenges: The Public Works (PW) Department, which operates 33% of the city’s fleet, was the final department to be consolidated with the Fleet Management Department in 2014. PW maintenance staff remained in place, and operational management and reporting was changed to fleet. Staffing vacancies within PW and bringing outsourced jobs in-house reduced outside vendor repair costs from $2.8 to $1.1 million per year, and repair time was reduced from six to eight weeks to three to five days.

15 City of Indianapolis DPW - IFS, IN

Contact: Ronnie Rhoton
Units: 3,907 on-road; 880 off-road
Staff: 104
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: In 2015, the city began an initiative to convert its non-­pursuit vehicles to plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) by adding more than 200 EVs. To resolve charging issues, the city partnered with the utility company to purchase and install more than 200 charging stations. To address vehicle functionality in the field, fleet is working with a training provider to develop training specializing in the operation/­repair of advanced technology vehicles. 

16 City of Milwaukee, WI

Contact: Jeffrey Tews
Units: 2,496 on-road; 506 off-road        
Staff: 106
Maint. Facilities: 5
Overcoming Challenges: In 2014, the mayor tasked Fleet Services with creating a demolition crew to remove condemned houses from the city. Fleet was challenged to remove 100 houses in the first year on a limited budget. Fleet staff assembled a strong team of ­professionals from within, quickly acquired necessary equipment through strategic purchases and rentals, and trained with private contractors to get the team working within weeks. Fleet staff developed innovations along  the way to make each job more efficient and met its demolition goal.

17 County of Sonoma, CA

Contact: David Worthington
Units: 1,033 on-road; 161 off-road
Staff: 22
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: A new light equipment fleet maintenance facility became necessary three years ago when the current site was sold to the State Court System. Changes in the vacancy deadlines, budgetary constraints, and problems with three different architectural design firms nearly resulted in the project not moving forward. Patience, political wherewithal, and the marketing of the financial and operational benefits of a new maintenance facility resulted in the approval of the $9.9 million project at the end of January 2015.

18 City & County of Denver, CO

Contact: Todd Richardson
Units: 1,332 on-road; 631 off-road
Staff: 86
Maint. Facilities: 7
Overcoming Challenges: With the fleet director position vacant for more than a year, fleet employees lacked direction, and there were no goals or vision for the organization. The new fleet director re-established clear expectations, opened lines of communication, created a vision, and developed performance goals with employee input. Mangers hit the shop floor and made daily contact with employees to hear their voices and understand their problems. Clear performance measures were put in place and communicated so each employee knew the organization’s direction. Fleet has made major progress, and it has shown in work results.

19 City of Anaheim, CA

Contact: Julie Lyons
Units: 700 on-road; 400 off-road
Staff: 30
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: The fleet’s biggest challenge has been, and will continue to be, an aging workforce. It is looking at partnering with local schools to create a mentoring program and is aggressively training “newer” employees so they can step in when the more senior staff retire. Fleet is creating a succession plan, aggressively recruiting, and paying extra for technician certifications. If experienced staff members decide to stay on a little longer, they are asked to mentor the more “junior” technicians.

20 Alameda County, CA

Contact: Doug Bond
Units: 1,050 on-road
Staff: 14
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: Budget has continued to be the fleet’s biggest challenge, which it has tried to overcome with technology. A hybrid/electric fleet of 235 vehicles, partially purchased with grant funding, has helped reduce fuel costs by about $450,000 since 2002. Fleet has upgraded its fuel management system and installed GPS devices in more than 400 vehicles, which have helped reduce fuel consumption. A collaborative fuel purchase is estimated to save $250,000 over the five-year contract.

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The remaining Leading Fleets are listed in alphabetical order.

Chesterfield County, VA

Contact: Jeffery Jeter
Units: 2,513 on-road; 125 off-road
Staff: 82              
Maint. Facilities: 4
Overcoming Challenges: In late 2013, fleet implemented a pilot program to convert 12 vehicles to run on propane autogas. Technicians were trained to install the upfit packages to increase productivity and turn-around time. Fleet explained documented fuel cost savings, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced gasoline consumption to other divisions, which has resulted in more interest and buy-in from county leaders and citizens.

City of Beverly Hills, CA

Contact: Craig Crowder
Units: 275 on-road; 125 off-road
Staff: 11
Maint. Facilities: 2
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s biggest challenge was finding and hiring competent personnel to fill long-time vacancies. Fleet worked with Human Resources and Public Works, meeting weekly and establishing new-hire requirements and expanding recruitment. Through this collaboration, fleet was able to fill vacancies with quality personnel.

City of Boston, MA

Contact: Jim McGonagle
Units: 1,087 on-road
Staff: 44
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: Boston endured the snowiest winter in its history this year. Fleet was staffed 24/7 during snow season, keeping at least 90% of 150+ pieces of snow equipment operating at all times, arranging fuel deliveries for snow-melting equipment, calling in equipment from contractors and government agencies, providing vehicles for plowing inspections, and keeping its seven fuel sites operational.

City of Buckeye, AZ

Contact: Michael DePaulo
Units: 341 on-road; 34 off-road
Staff: 6.5
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: The fleet was able to complete its fleet certification from the Government Fleet Management Alliance (GFMA). Fleet prepared for and passed the audit on its policy and procedures manual, replacement policy, utilization policy, staffing chart, customer service level agreements, emergency management plan, mission statement, preventive maintenance program, predictive maintenance program, and its last annual report showing activity-based costing.

City of Charlotte, NC

Contact: Chris Trull
Units: 4,260 on-road; 1,927 off-road
Staff: 122
Maint. Facilities: 5
Overcoming Challenges: The city implemented a new financial system, ERP, to help track all finances throughout the city.  It requires a purchase order in advance of ordering a part or service, which is the complete opposite of how fleet was doing business. Staff members now must enter data into both systems, and fleet is conducting additional training to address the learning curve of the new system.

City of Dublin, OH

Contact: J. Darryl Syler
Units: 229 on-road; 29 off-road
Staff: 9
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet did not have a parts employee, and technicians and the supervisor had to order and pick up parts. After contracting with NAPA Integrated Business Solutions (IBS), fleet has reduced administrative procedures by reducing the number of invoices, increased technician efficiency by nearly six hours per week, and reduced obsolete parts.

City of Little Rock, AR

Contact: Wendell Jones
Units: 960 on-road; 419 off-road
Staff: 72
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s challenge was in vehicle replacement and maintenance for an aging fleet. Management added Saturday preventive maintenance (PM) hours and established a second shop in the downtown area, which increased on-time PM completion to 90% as of January 2015. Secondly, a finance solution utilizing a 1-cent sales tax and short-term financing allowed the fleet to purchase major equipment for Fire, Police, Public Works, and Parks.

City of Long Beach, CA

Contact: Daniel Berlenbach
Units: 1,956 on-road; 169 off-road
Staff: 100
Maint. Facilities: 8
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet faced a 600-vehicle replacement backlog and dissatisfied customers. It submitted a reduced replacement strategy for 2014 to the city manager’s office, with relevant cost data and a plan to change the city’s replacement methodology completely. This was approved, and fleet, working with a consultant, now has a new vehicle replacement plan.

City of Moline, IL

Contact: J.D. Schulte
Units: 180 on-road; 215 off-road
Staff: 11
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: With reduced budgets, fleet has to get creative with vehicle replacements. It has been remounting ambulance bodies since 2004, and in 2014 began remounting a 17-year-old ambulance body on its fourth cab and chassis. This is expected to save more than $252,000. Additionally, all trucks from 1-ton and heavier are equipped with SwapLoaders in order to interchange dump bodies, salt-boxes, flat beds, enclosed leaf boxes, etc. This prevents underutilization and fleet creep.

City of Oakland, CA

Contact: Richard Battersby
Units: 1,210 on-road; 260 off-road
Staff: 55
Maint. Facilities: 2
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s biggest challenge has been creating a vehicle replacement program without having adequate funding. A municipal financing arrangement got fleet a 1.82% interest rate and allowed it to leverage about $3 million available into $11.8 million for the first round and then the current round of $15.8 million. Vehicles are used as collateral against the funding secured to acquire them until the payments are completed.

City of Oceanside, CA

Contact: Jeffery Hart
Units: 462 on-road; 33 off-road
Staff: 12
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: An old fuel management system using a card/key system was costly to maintain, was subject to human error, allowed for cross fueling, and did not produce accountability. Fleet overcame a complicated conversion to a new automated fuel management system at three separate fueling locations, which reduced fuel consumption stemming from unauthorized fueling, automated odometer and engine hour readings, and reduced spillage.

City of Orange, CA

Contact: Keith Marian
Units: 387 on-road; 32 off-road
Staff: 9
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet worked to overcome an aging fleet while short staffed. It was able to hire two technicians and ramped up the in-house training program to train the new technicians. To address the problem of the aging fleet, staff successfully justified a 100% increase in the vehicle replacement budget when compared to two years ago. The $3 million replacement fund is the highest it has been in more than 10 years.

City of Raleigh, NC

Contact: Travis Brown
Units: 2,172 on-road; 1,759 off-road
Staff: 65
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: The fleet encountered a problem with its automated side loader refuse trucks, where the hydraulic filter was spinning off and discharging fluid. While the manufacturer worked on a solution, and with fleet unable to park the vehicles until a fix was available, fleet implemented a schedule to check all vehicles of this type to ensure the filters were torqued properly, periodically re-torquing each filter until a modification came from the manufacturer.

City of Riverside, CA

Contact: Garrett Reynolds
Units: 1,045 on-road; 265 off-road
Staff: 36
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: Recent challenges include a fleet management change and working on keeping adequate staff to maintain the fleet. Fleet has grown significantly and has become more complex, but staffing levels decreased during the economic downturn by attrition in vacant positions. A fiscal recovery is allowing the department to fill several positions that have been vacant for some years.

City of San Jose, CA

Contact: Dan Sunseri
Units: 1,720 on-road; 780 off-road
Staff: 58
Maint. Facilities: 6
Overcoming Challenges: The fleet’s enterprise asset management (EAM) software was out of date. Personnel worked to upgrade system architecture and software, integrate more fleet operations such as ­real-time fueling transactions, and synergize workflow with the upgraded system. The bulk of the work is completed and further optimization is ongoing.

City of Tacoma, WA

Contact: Frederick Chun
Units: 1,100 on-road; 50 off-road
Staff: 39
Maint. Facilities: 2
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s biggest challenge was managing the workload with a reduced level of fleet staffing following a 20% fleet staff reduction in 2013. Management allocated more overtime work to meet the workload, hired two temporary technicians, and implemented several strategies to maintain efficiency. At the end of 2014, fleet customers provided positive feedback with virtually no complaints about fleet dependability and readiness. 

City of Tampa, FL

Contact: Tim Perry
Units: 2,969 on-road; 319 off-road
Staff: 61
Maint. Facilities: 2
Overcoming Challenges: With fleet’s parts procurement under the Purchasing Department and fleet responsible for salaries and other administrative costs, parts management suffered. The parts on demand rate fell as low as 44%. Fleet recommended outsourcing the operation, and with the assistance of the Purchasing Department, solicited proposals and awarded a contract. Annual cost savings are estimated to be approximately $329,000.

City of Tempe, AZ

Contact: Kevin Devery
Units: 832 on-road; 294 off-road
Staff: 30
Maint. Facilities: 2
Overcoming Challenges: During a vehicle reduction project, fleet discovered that the majority of customers were uninformed about many areas of their fleet. This meant they made poor choices about equipment and had false impressions of unit downtime and minimal awareness of utilization and costs. Fleet met with all user departments to educate them about right-sizing and improved communication with users.

City of Ventura, CA

Contact: Mary Joyce Ivers
Units: 327 on-road; 67 off-road
Staff: 9
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: One of fleet’s biggest challenges has been departments adding personnel without notifying fleet in advance and then asking for a vehicle for them to perform their tasks. Motor pool, car sharing, and improved utilization of low usage vehicles has resolved the issue or worked as a temporary solution until a vehicle can be sourced.

Cobb County, GA

Contact: Al Curtis
Units: 1,900 on-road; 480 off-road
Staff: 35
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet culture change was the biggest challenge, and management set out to stimulate creativity in the workplace. Fleet management set out to identify employee strengths and creative capabilities and consider creating new groups with a tailored mix of talents. This, along with a series of other initiatives, has helped employees feel trusted, empowered, and valued.

County of Riverside, CA

Contact: Lisa Brandl
Units: 4,160 on-road
Staff: 53
Maint. Facilities: 7
Overcoming Challenges: In 2014, more than 1,400 smog checks were due, an increase of 16% over 2013. Fleet deployed the new OBD Inspection System (OIS) — undergoing beta testing in the State of California — on six garages, reducing the time it takes to perform smog checks and reducing the cost by 21%.

CPS Energy, TX

Contact: Tommy Johns
Units: 1,924 on-road; 451 off-road
Staff: 64
Maint. Facilities: 6
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s biggest challenge was to align its customers with the fleet team to establish accurate duty cycles and realistic preventive maintenance strategies and depreciation. Fleet collaborated with users on fleet spec’ing and design to make equipment more conducive to operator needs. This collaboration resulted in more realistic replacement strategies and created a standard type of vehicle that makes them re-deployable among different departments.

Dakota County, MN

Contact: Kevin Schlangen
Units: 311 on-road; 77 off-road
Staff: 13.5
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: Inaccurate job descriptions, pay inequity, and staff turnover and recruitment were all challenges for the fleet. Staff held off on hiring replacement staff and rewrote all six job descriptions to have them reflect actual job duties and educational requirements. Fleet also contracted with Utilimarc, which supplied five years of data, helping with wage comparisons.

Eugene Water & Electric Board, OR

Contact: Gary Lentsch
Units: 225 on-road; 65 off-road
Staff: 9.5
Maint. Facilities: 1
Overcoming Challenges: In 2012, the Oregon Department of Energy offered an alternative-­fuel vehicle infrastructure tax credit incentive. The utility submitted an application in 2012, but the scope of the project changed in 2013. Fleet was able to amend its original application to take advantage of the 35% tax credit, and the on-site fuel island was up and running in 2014.

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, IL

Contact: Michael Webster
Units: 195 on-road; 420 off-road
Staff: 16
Maint. Facilities: 4
Overcoming Challenges: General Motors no longer produces the medium-­duty line, and the propane autogas systems are no longer produced, so parts for these dump trucks have become scarce. When a part is “back ordered” in the GM system, fleet makes contact with the factory rep to begin the massive search process. Fleet also works with its local hose and fabrication shops to have parts fabricated to expedite the process. 

Hillsborough County, FL

Contact: Robert Stine, Jr.
Units: 2,600 on-road; 700 off-road
Staff: 52
Maint. Facilities: 4
Overcoming Challenges: A new county structure had user departments working with three different groups for billing, vehicle acquisitions, reporting, and contract support. To improve communication, fleet developed recurring staff support and customer meetings, developed tri-annual focus group forums, and reduced customer concerns by acting as the focal point when staff support issues develop. 

New York City Police Department, NY

Contact: Robert Martinez
Units: 8,317 on-road; 686 off-road
Staff: 413
Maint. Facilities: 13
Overcoming Challenges: A complete change in top-level administration has led to major changes, such as all-wheel drive, spacious vehicles and rapid acquisition of new vehicles. These initiatives needed to be achieved without additional funding, a 24% personnel shortage, and without any negative effect on services. The solution included the reallocation of under-utilized vehicles, utilization of targeted overtime, and additional cost saving measures.

NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services, NY

Contact: Keith Kerman
Units: 23,687 on-road; 4,084 off-road
Staff: 1,680
Maint. Facilities: 34
Overcoming Challenges: One of the current focuses of DCAS’ efforts is a series of safety and risk management projects. Working with more than 40 agencies, DCAS is installing speed and safety tracking devices, called CANceivers, on all city fleet units.  Scheduling and installing units on a wide variety of makes and models has challenged staff, but fleet can now report on the safety and speed of vehicles on a monthly basis and analyze collisions.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, NJ

Contact: Jim Reinish
Units: 1,400 on-road; 900 off-road
Staff: 156
Maint. Facilities: 7
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s challenge has been maintaining a high level of customer service and continuing sustainability efforts during a period that included continuing Hurricane Sandy recovery and record snow seasons. Fleet built the “Green Machine,” a truck running almost entirely on green fluids and re-designed 56 bi-­fuel compressed natural gas (CNG) pick-up trucks to optimize bed space.

Sarasota County, FL

Contact: Gregory Morris
Units: 867 on-road; 672 off-road
Staff: 35
Maint. Facilities: 3
Overcoming Challenges: Fleet’s biggest challenge has been retirements, and much of the work force will be retiring within five years. For the last five years, fleet has been cross-training individuals on varied types of assets. Newly hired qualified technicians are immediately paired up with a highly skilled technician for training. Human Resources allows fleet to hire up to a year in advance for critical positions, and the departing individual trains his or her replacement.

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