During the process of obtaining the Certified Fleet Management Operation (CFMO), the City of Dublin, Ohio, was able to use the certification checklist to complete its fleet management program. The Government Fleet Management Alliance (GFMA), which awards the CFMO, announced that the city became certified in November.

The city’s CFMO process began in 2012. The city hired Darryl Syler, its first fleet manager, after internal restructuring, and he was tasked with establishing the division’s policies and procedures and making sure the agency followed best practices.

“The city saw the value of fleet and wanted to make sure it was managed efficiently,” Syler explained.

Fleet staff was able to use best practices and foundation categories from the CFMO checklist to form its fleet division, including utilization and replacement policies, and was able to draw best practices from the checklist.

Syler said the division’s biggest hurdle was training staff how to use the existing fleet software, including the FASTER fleet management system and EJ Ward’s fuel software. While the staff had the tools, they had never been fully trained on how to use them. By improving staff use of the tools and improving data collection, the division was able to develop an effective utilization and replacement policy, Syler said.

Using the data, they could see which units were underutilized and could either sell them off or place them in areas that needed additional vehicles. Staff could analyze operational costs for each vehicle to determine if it should be kept. Utilization reports allowed fleet to reduce its vehicle count by at least 5% over the last two years, Syler said. The fleet now consists of 279 rolling stock and trailers and 37 off-road units.

Syler said one of the biggest things he learned from the process was how knowledgeable the fleet team is. In addition to Syler, the division includes two administrative positions and six technicians.

“If you give them an opportunity to show their knowledge, they will show you they know what they’re doing,” he said.

Other recent CFMOs include the City of Buckeye, Ariz., City of Portland, Ore., City of Anaheim, Calif., and City of Austin, Texas.