Too many vehicles mean an underutilized fleet and unnecessary cost. Too few vehicles or the wrong type of vehicle leads to unhappy customers. Right-sizing a motor pool requires more than simply guessing a ballpark figure.
A fleet with a vehicle replacement fund to which resale proceeds are returned makes the fleet manager more accountable for the disposal of surplus vehicles and equipment. It is in the fleet manager’s best interest to maximize resale proceeds to offset the cost of new vehicles. However, when resale dollars are returned to the general fund, it can make the fleet manager ambivalent to the resale process. Here are five reasons why it is not a good idea to return resale proceeds to the general fund.
A fleet manager must ensure the assets deployed make budgetary sense. The manager must consider factors such as coverage area, usage of front-line fleet, and the age and condition of the overall fleet.
Fleet managers often face difficult choices in their efforts to provide quality customer services cost-effectively. Paraphrasing Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this choice often takes the form of “To outsource or not to outsource, that is the question.”
An in-house fleet management presence is required to run an efficient, cost-effective fleet that also meets the needs of drivers and customers. It is invaluable to have someone on the inside who “really knows the business.”
Fuel-pricing contracts and site services offer creative ways to conserve resources and cash for the Florida county’s Fleet Management Division and its customers. A fuel co-op purchase agreement with weekly pricing offers substantial savings.
Running your department like a business means always looking for efficiencies. To operate more efficiently, Milton Reid, director of fleet management for the city of Gainesville, Fla., outsourced accident management.
Washington state’s King County has created a reclamation program to remove mercury switches from out-of-service fleet vehicles. Removal is fairly easy to accomplish and takes between 30 seconds and five minutes to complete.
Fleets are exploring non-traditional remarketing channels, such as online auctions, as they try to squeeze higher residual values while operating under the strains of reduced budget dollars and declining internal resources.
Midwest City, Oklahoma, shares a problem with many government fleet operations. Management wants fleet to do more, but provides fewer resources. Fleet Services Manager Craig Davis has accomplished both goals.
Continued use of recapped tires and lengthened PM intervals have kept medium-duty truck operating costs relatively flat for utility/railroad, delivery, and service fleets in 2004.
The history of U.S. diesel emission regulations began with the 1970 Clean Air Act. OEMs responded with technological innovations, but are being forced to consider other compliance options to meet the upcoming more stringent standards.
Outsourcing is the big ogre that hangs over many government fleet operations all around the country. As governments scramble for larger segments of a static or even declining tax dollar pie, they are increasingly looking at outsourcing, hiring an outside private operator, to handle their work.
Don’t be left out in the cold this winter. Practice preventive maintenance on your fleet before the season, choose the right vendors, and make sure you have the proper equipment to keep traffic flowing safely.
Trucks, spreaders, plows, and other snow-removal equipment will be called upon to perform hard work under harsh conditions throughout the winter - waiting too long could be
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