I don’t know what’s worse, visiting my procurement department or completing my federal tax return. Either way, both are overly burdensome and a pain my backside! As an experienced public sector professional I understand the need for regulatory processes to reduce the possibility of corruption & wasteful spending. But when do those regulations become so burdensome that it negatively impacts the ability to do our jobs.
I was recently taking to another fleet manager friend of mine that’s in hot water for going over his bosses head. I’ve been in this business for a while and there’s one sure fire way to get you terminated…go political. For most of us we must deal with decisions that we don’t like. The decisions sometimes negatively impact our ability to do our jobs, and in turn, make our lives and work more difficult. However, we must remember that the vast majority of us don’t ‘make policy, but implement it.
These days capital replacement money is hard to come by. For many, it has caused us to rethink the way we purchase our vehicles, their options, and extended warranties.
Here we go again…another vendor trying to sell me a load of BS! This one is somewhat complicated, so to keep it brief I will highlight only the important aspects of the proposal. Like the previous ROI or BS post I will not cite the manufacturer’s name, and will reserve my comments until after I have received input from the fleet community.
As this year comes to a close I am left wondering what have we become as a country, and as a people. Is it just me…or do we seem to be coming apart at the seams? The underlying tone of the country has become more negative and divisive. Obviously, the uncertainty in the economy and job pressures does add to the discord, but I think the problem is much more complex.
First, and to put it rather bluntly, virtually everything they listed is subject to interpretation and variation. While there are some variables that appear very reasonable, nearly all of them could be altered positively or negatively. Let’s look at the each variable individually.
As I promised in my previous ROI blog, I am posting proposals I receive from vendors that seem too good to be true. My first case is from a manufacturer that compares the operating costs of gasoline vs. propane powered lawn mowers. First, let me state that I am all for the use of alternative and clean-burning fuels.
All branches of government tend to overregulate, and all regulations are designed to restrict something or someone. But when does the regulation become so restrictive that it negatively impacts efficiency and productivity? Finding the right balance between policy and process can be difficult to say the least, but it is possible.
Can you put a price tag on inefficiency? In any business (public or private) performance benchmarks and outcomes guide our decision making process, but seldom do we quantify them in monetary terms. In this article I will describe the potential costs associated with ineffective & inefficient practices.
Return On Investment is just another fancy term for Cost Vs. Benefit Analysis. You analyze a proposal which claims if you purchase a specific product or service you would eventually gain savings or revenues that exceeded your initial investment. That’s all well and good, but like I said in my first post, not everything is as it seems and some ROIs are based upon completely fictitious and grandiose assumptions.
I have decided to add some additional content to my blog which I call “ROI or BS” (and you know what BS stands for). The blog entries will consist of analyzing Return-On-Investment (ROI) and performance claims from various vendors that I receive from time to time. Some of the claims I analyzed were compiled to out-rightly deceive, while others conjured-up preconceived assumptions of my operational profile and costs. I will not mention the specific names of the companies or products that I evalua
With todays reduced manpower and funding levels, several fleet managers that I know have extended their PM Service intervals as a means of coping with their new reality. If you have the time, please respond to the brief questions listed below.
Well, we had our first grievance hearing on the aforementioned employee noted in my previous post: Public Sector Unions. Needless to say…the meeting went over like a turd in a punchbowl! I was truly amazed with the physic abilities of the union representative to automatically determine that the blame for all the employee’s problems rested on management.
The Ford Crown Victoria has been the standard-bearer of police patrol vehicles for as long as I can remember. With the demise of the Crown Vic now upon us, those of us who have traditionally ordered the car and are now left with deciding what will be our next pursuit vehicle.
Beyond what we already have to deal with, reduced manpower and shrinking budgets, there is another element that is making our jobs (or at least my job) more difficult…Public Sector Unions.