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SEARCHMENUSEARCHBeyond 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.
Read More →We have all heard of the potential negative consequences of extending our equipment lifecycles to accommodate current budget pressures. For the most part, fleet managers tend to express their concerns about an aging fleet in terms of increased workloads, parts costs, and reduction of return on investment. But there is another aspect to maintaining an aging fleet…the need to attract and retain an experienced workforce.
Read More →What do the cities of Santa Rosa, Calif.; Castle Rock, Colo.; and Sacramento, Calif., have in common? All of them successfully employ fleet advisory boards. The key reason fleet advisory boards are successful is because they offer customers/users a say in managing the fleet. In addition, a fleet advisory board, by its very nature, institutionalizes ongoing communication and helps increase customer understanding of the constraints and challenges facing fleet operations.
Read More →In many instances, when you ask someone what their net worth is they will respond in a monetary value. However, your net worth is not only the amount of money you have in the bank, but also the cumulative value of your skills and abilities that benefits an employer.
Read More →Since I have been posting in my rants I have received some rather interesting replies. Some were worth commenting on, some not. However, I do feel the need to clarify some things.
Read More →In the public fleet industry much has been said about Fully Burdened Labor Rates (FBLR). For some, it is the basis by which they measure their cost competitiveness with the private sector. However, during my tenure as a fleet manager one thing is for sure; all FBLRs are not created equal! Contrary to popular belief there are many different methods of computing a FBLR. As public fleet managers we would like to believe that we are standardized with our public sector counterparts, but that is far f
Read More →I was recently discussing comeback (rework) rates with another fleet manager and decided to share my thoughts with the rest of the fleet community.
Read More →Here’s an interesting tidbit of information for you big government spenders. On June 1, 2010 the national debt stood at 13 trillion dollars. That number increased to 14 trillion dollars on Dec 31, 2010. Putting that time frame into perspective, it calculates out to be: 5,136 hours or 308,160 minutes or 18,489,600 seconds. Now let’s do some easy division…and poof… that equates to a whopping $54,084.00 every second! That’s fifty four thousand dollars added to the national debt each and every secon
Read More →As I was driving into work this morning I heard a radio news announcer claim that food prices will increase this year. He stated the price increases will affect a wide variety of foodstuffs, but the most significant increases will occur in meat products. The reason for the surge in prices…a dramatic drop in the availability of soybeans and corn stock. Now most of you already know where I am going with this. For many years, scientists have been concerned about the viability of the bio-fuels indus
Read More →For the most part, my previous posts have been related to fleet issues. However, there is only so much one can talk about without becoming dull and repetitive. So from now I’m going to sporadically spruce-up my blog by posting what I will call…Monthly Rants! They will not be related to any one particular issue, just some topic of discussion that I wish to vent on. My rants will likely be non-fleet related and deal with current issues facing our country and way-of-life.
Read More →There was an interesting article posted in the Government Fleet website on December 16th 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”.
Read More →The vast majority of public fleet operations are an expense to the agency they serve, and therefore are an easy target for budget cuts or outsourcing. So what can you do to add more value to your department’s existence…INSOURCE!
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