BOSTON - A 16-page report of Boston's Central Fleet Maintenance (CFM) outlines 13 recommendations for the Public Works Department to be implemented over 18 months.

According to the city, the report, presented in August and conducted by outside consultant Mercury Associates Inc., documents a number of management and operation challenges facing CFM in seven areas: leadership, organization and staffing, vehicle management and repair, parts management, customer service and relationship management, fleet replacement, and correctly charging departments for their vehicle maintenance.

It provides a roadmap to completing a turnaround of CFM through the implementation of key recommendations, including:

• the development of standard operating procedures in certain key areas of the department's operations;

• retraining staff on how to properly utilize the department's management information system;

• the creation of a streamlined process to service maintenance orders faster;

• and an analysis to determine the correct rates to charge individual departments for various maintenance requests.

The city released the findings as it fulfilled the top recommendation to hire a new director, Jim McGonagle, to run the garage.

Boston's garage services 1,150 vehicles, not including police, fire, or water and sewer equipment. It has roughly 41 employees, including 22 full-time mechanics, and an operating budget this year of almost $2 million, according to The Boston Globe. Click here to read the Boston Globe article.