An equipment motor pool at the City of Chesapeake, Va., consists of 29 units.
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At a Glance
Key elements of organizing a vehicle/equipment pooling program include:
- A comprehensive utilization study and analysis.
- Fleet reduction with disposal of underutilized vehicles.
- Buy-in from senior management.
- Establishing good working relationships with intra- and interagency partners.
Neighbor helping neighbor — a time-honored American community ideal. And as a business concept, neighboring public-sector jurisdictions, large and small, are finding vehicle and equipment sharing can save costs, create efficiencies, and serve as a best practice in resource utilization. Intra- and interagency vehicle and equipment pools are growing in popularity in municipalities and counties throughout the country. At its best, it’s simply a matter of mutual aid.
Mutual Aid a Cultural Value in Rural Michigan
Chelsey Foster, city manager, City of Ithaca, Mich.
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That’s how Chelsey Foster describes the pooling agreements the City of Ithaca, Mich., has established with neighboring jurisdictions. “It’s a mutual aid arrangement, part of the culture here in Gratiot County,” said Foster, who has served as Ithaca’s city manager for the past three years.
Nestled in the center of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, the City of Ithaca’s four square miles are home to 3,000 residents. Founded in 1855, the City is the Gratiot County seat, a rural agricultural area with a population of 42,000.
Equipment pooling among the City of Ithaca and its neighbors provides a solution for smaller cities and towns whose budgets cannot accommodate the expensive specialty vehicles and equipment.
“We find the times we need advanced equipment are not frequent enough to justify purchasing,” Foster said. Yet the equipment is required for public works activities.
For example, in 2009, Ithaca considered purchasing a new $100,000 street sweeper, a big-ticket item, particularly during difficult economic times. However, officials at the nearby City of St. Louis agreed to share use of the sweeper, paying Ithaca about $9,000 in annual rental fees, plus the cost of replacement brushes, based on the State of Michigan Department of Transportation’s Schedule C.
An equipment motor pool at the City of Chesapeake, Va., consists of 29 units.
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The City of Ithaca uses revenue from renting the street sweeper, a sewer vacuum truck, and gravel road grader to build its equipment fund, Foster said.
In return, Ithaca has agreements to rent such items as specialty sewer tools, underground boring equipment, and post-digging gear from neighboring villages and townships.
In addition, Foster said, “when any construction projects are being planned, we touch base with each other to see who may have equipment we need.”
Pooling arrangements for big specialty equipment and vehicles are detailed in formal agreements specifying usage, compensation, labor rates if applicable, and liability issues.
For single-day, smaller equipment needs, Ithaca and its neighbors offer each other informal “in-kind support,” Foster said. “The City of Alma had a sewer flow meter we needed recently, so an Alma City employee dropped off the equipment to us while on a lunch break.”
Much of this cooperation happens at local municipal managers’ informal meetings. “We meet the last Tuesday of the month, over lunch, to share information and look for opportunities to collaborate,” Foster explained.
He advised jurisdictions interested in starting pooling agreements to establish working relationships with neighboring governments and look for opportunities to share equipment and vehicles among each partnering agency’s inventory.
Be sure the final pool agreement stipulates adequate fees to cover the equipment owner’s costs, plus all consumable materials, Foster cautioned. And, he added, “Have an attorney review the agreement for liability concerns, because accidents do happen.”
Equipment Pooling Works on a Larger Scale in Denver
Equipment pooling works well in larger-scale applications, as demonstrated in the consolidated city-county government of Denver, which covers 154 square miles populated by nearly 620,000 residents.
“We pool all types of heavy equipment — loaders, tractors, backhoes — the big items. And we pool cars and light vehicles as well,” said Ernie Ivy, Denver’s director of fleet management.
His division’s equipment pooling customers are Denver’s public works agencies: Solid Waste, Street Division, Traffic, Engineering, Parks and Recreation, and Waste Water.
Ernie Ivy, director of fleet management, City and County of Denver.
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A 42-year fleet veteran with 25 years of management experience, Ivy began considering a pooling program for Denver’s Department of Public Works in 2003.
“I met with Jim [Wright, president of Fleet Counselor Services], and we looked at utilization,” Ivy recounted. “Out of that study came pooling because so much of the fleet was underutilized.”
Ivy formed a utilization committee consisting of Denver’s mayor and chief of staff, the finance manager, and budget director. They brought Denver’s equipment and vehicles under centralized fleet management and identified underutilized units.
“We took a lot of that equipment and sold it or reassigned it, and saved millions of dollars,” Ivy said. The initial equipment sale proceeds totaled $3.2 million.
Once right-sized, the fleet implemented an equipment pooling program to adequately support customer needs, particularly specialty equipment and vehicles. Public works agencies pay an hourly fee and delivery charge for each pool unit.
Ivy plans additional equipment locations throughout Denver to improve customer delivery and return of pooled units. In the future, Ivy also wants to install electronic monitoring and rental administration systems to reduce staffing requirements and facilitate customer use.
In addition to streamlined, cost-efficient inventories, the pool program cuts maintenance costs and improves replacement schedules, Ivy said.
“Certain maintenance tasks must be done every year. Performing maintenance on underutilized units is a waste,” he explained. “We can get more mileage and usage out of equipment and can replace it in a timelier manner.”
For Ivy, cost-effective fleet utilization is an ongoing effort. “We examine utilization yearly, although unofficially, I look at it every quarter. Utilization is key, and thinking outside the box. How can things be changed — as we did with equipment pooling — to save money without affecting operations or your customers’ needs?"
