The City of Jamestown, N.Y., plans to update its fleet structure and centralize its fleet management following a study conducted by consulting firm Mercury Associates. Under the new fleet structure, city officials hope to eliminate underutilized vehicles, promote more vehicle sharing, and implement a new replacement program, the Post-Journal reported.

The final report, released in January, found that consolidating fleet management activities would improve fleet management service levels and enable the city to leverage economies of scale to lower fleet maintenance,  repair, and management costs.

The Equipment Maintenance Division, under the Public Works Department, maintains all Public Works, Fire, and Parks and Recreation vehicles and does most of the repairs for the Board of Public Utilities’ (BPU) Water and Waste Water vehicles. Police and BPU Solid Waste and Electric outsource their maintenance and repair to local shops, according to the report.

To implement full fleet consolidation, the fleet would need a larger maintenance facility, two additional technician positions, a parts clerk position, and a fleet analyst position. Consolidation would be a long-term goal and may take several years and citywide support to complete.

City council this week voted to accept the report, and Fleet Manager Patrick Monaghan is working on slowly making changes toward fleet centralization.

He confirmed that the city has already completed some of the changes recommended in the report, including updating the fleet management software and improving parts inventory management, shop workflow, and preventive maintenance.

The city and utility fleet consists of 432 units.