There was an interesting article posted in the Government Fleet website on December 16^th 2010.  Many of you probably glanced over it and didn’t give it another thought.  Well if it didn’t interest you before, it should have!  The Article I am referring to is “San Diego Begins Managed Competition”.

Why do I feel that the article was so important…it is because the fleet was managed by John Alley. Yes, the same John Alley that was named Public Fleet Manager of the Year for 2010! Now don’t get me wrong, I am not inferring that John was doing a bad job. Quite the contrary, John may have operated the fleet very effectively, but his upper management and/or politicians obviously didn’t know it.

The most troubling and consequential aspect of working in the public fleet industry is the fact that the politicians don’t know if we are competitive with the private sector. They are unaware (or unwilling) to take the time to learn about the service and value we deliver on a daily basis. Some politicians could care less because they think the private sector can always do it cheaper and more efficiently.  All they know is that we cost them money, which is a scarce commodity these days.

So when your government is starved for cash, what do they do? They either eliminate the service completely, immediately outsource, or put it up for managed competition.  While the managed competition process may not be the end-of-the-world for those who know how to compete, it does indicate that your upper management/politicians possess a certain level of distrust or discontent with the fleet operation. The fact that you were even asked to compete in a managed competition should concern you! Even if you win the managed competition, the distrust may still remain. You need to be more proactive in ringing your own bell and seek out the acknowledgement that your department deserves. Take nothing for granted, a politicians silence is not an indicator of acceptance or content!

For those of you that don’t know what managed competition is you need not worry, because you have already lost, but just don’t know it yet.