Town of Buckeye Cuts Downtime with In-house Testing

Under Fleet Maintenance Supervisor Michael DePaulo's leadership, the Town of Buckeye, Ariz. was certified by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to perform emissions testing in-house by town mechanics.

The certification required an inspection of the facilities and technician testing. The in-house operation saves the town downtime costs each year. The ADEQ emissions facility nearest Buckeye is located approximately 15 miles away.

"With 250 vehicles requiring testing, this translates to a minimum savings of $15 per round trip per vehicle or about $3,750 per year. That is just the transportation of the equipment, not to mention the man-hours saved," according to Scott Lowe, public works director for the Town of Buckeye.

Recycling Helps Cover Shop Expenses

"Our welder made a suggestion to take our scrap metal to the local recycling plant to use the money to purchase new tools and supplies for the shop when needed, thus reducing our budget," said Michael Webster, director of Citrus County, Fla., fleet management. "This was an excellent idea and after getting approval from the purchasing director, we now have a revenue account set up to deposit recycling money into that we use to purchase new tools for the shop."

Recycling also helps Pasco County, Fla., earn additional revenue. The County sells its used oil to the same vendor that services its parts washers and collects its used oil filters, fuel filters, and absorbent material for sweeping the floors, in addition to other services, according to Charles Bellerose, fleet management director. "The price paid for the used oil comes close to completely offsetting the cost of the other services provided by this contractor," said Bellerose.