The Sonoma County (Calif.) Human Services Department (HSD) has achieved its goal of improving vehicle management and efficiency, and enabled workers to better serve their at-risk clients, after implementing a fleet automation technology for its motor pool nearly three years ago. The department implemented FleetCommander, created by Agile Access Control.

“The transformation of our fleet management and motor pools has significantly improved the efficiency in which we are able to serve our clients. Costs are reduced and we can focus on the important business at hand — serving an at-risk population. We have much more freedom to access vehicles, and using the motor pool now is hassle-free,” said George Malachowski, Sonoma County HSD, in a release from Agile.

Improvements include significant personnel time savings as a result of the online reservation system, automated key boxes, and minimized staff interactions related to managing reservations, dispatching, and vehicle usage reporting. As a result, HSD fleet staff has the time to attend to other business, according to Agile.

Metrics collected by FleetCommander enable fleet staff to monitor shortages in vehicles and rotate between high- and low-usage vehicles. Data collected also identifies vehicle demands throughout the department and enables it to almost eliminate personal vehicle usage reimbursement costs. Because HSD clients must frequently be served during non-business hours, unrestricted motor pool access enables workers to better meet their client needs.

For more information about the Sonoma County Human Services Department’s fleet automation initiative, a case study is available on the Agile website.