Employees of the City of Atlanta’s Department of Public Works Office of Fleet Services have won a managed competition after coming up with a new strategy to enhance the fleet’s parts management operation. The city is conducting a managed competition pilot, comparing employee recommendations for improving operations with private sector proposals. According to the mayor’s office, this allows the city to make an informed and unbiased decision about whether to continue to perform operations in-house or use a private vendor.

As part of this pilot, 16 Office of Fleet Services employees worked to develop a proposal to manage Fleet parts replacement and fulfillment in-house, demonstrating how they could run operations more efficiently and effectively. After reviewing bids submitted by private companies and the plan submitted by members of the Office of Fleet Services, an independent consultant and review board recommended that operations remain in-house with the new strategy executed.

The fleet team's proposal consists of implementing process improvements to improve the speed at which inventory is filled; reselling used parts, including tires, to generate revenue; and renegotiating existing parts contracts for better pricing and terms. 

“I am proud to award the fleet parts management operation to our team of public employees. This decision was made based on the thorough review and recommendations provided by the independent review board, as well as the strength of the employees’ proposal. I applaud our employees who worked hard to develop new approaches to ensuring enhanced service quality,” said Mayor Reed.

The managed competition pilot was one of the key initiatives recommended by the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Waste and Efficiency, and is expected to save the City of Atlanta approximately $3 million over the next five years.

The Office of Fleet Services is responsible for the acquisition, maintenance, and disposal of the City of Atlanta’s motorized equipment fleet of 4,673 units and 756 components, totaling over 5,429 pieces.

*This article was updated 3/28/17 at 1:54pm with details about the improvement plan.