As 2021 comes to a close, Government Fleet is taking a look back at some of our most popular feature stories of the year. We covered a wide variety of topics from electric vehicles to fleet management and safety to money-saving maintenance tips.
Police fleet stories — like previous years — were also a hit with readers. Five of the top 10 features this year were related to police vehicles.
1. Why the NYPD Values Fleet Salvaging, Safety: Learn what the New York City Police Department has done to minimize waste and risk, which became especially important following vehicle damage from protests.
2. 2 Ways Fleets Can Prevent Catalytic Converter Theft: As the number of thefts of the valuable vehicle part increase, here’s what managers can do to protect their assets.
3. Indiana Town PD Shifts to EVs to Save Money: The Bargersville Police Department has four Tesla patrol vehicles. Its police chief addresses fuel and maintenance savings, charging infrastructure costs, range, equipment installations, and advice for fleet managers.
4. NYPD Talks Tesla Upfitting, Safety Features: The New York City Police Department is currently piloting a Tesla Model 3; its fleet staff upfit the vehicle and built a power distribution point.
5. Focus on the 2021 F-150 Police Responder: Ford enhanced its F-150 pickup for law enforcement use to provide strong performance and handling on- and off-road.
6. 7 Design Principles of Highly Effective Garages: Learn how to create a place where employees feel prepared to do their jobs safely.
7. Testing the 2021 Patrol Vehicles: The Michigan State Police 2021 model year evaluations reveal that patrol SUVs and sedans are faster than they look and stop almost as quickly as they can accelerate.
8. Will Technology Save Fleets from Distracted Driving?: Driving while using one’s phone runs rampant and shows no signs of abating as the fleet sector looks to evolving deterrents and solutions.
9. The Case for the Fleet Manager in 2021 and Beyond: Government agencies scrutinizing costs may look to functional consolidation of support roles. But there are challenges that come with functional consolidation, including the loss of subject matter expertise.
10. When Switching from Leasing to Purchasing is More Effective: For one fleet, choosing purchasing over leasing was a smart, money-saving move.
