TULSA, OK – The City of Tulsa plans to right-size its fleet and create a Fleet Management Steering Committee, according to Vickie Beyer, director of the Management Review Office for the City of Tulsa. Both of these recommendations came from fleet consulting company CST Fleet Services. The Steering Committee would oversee vehicle acquisition and disposal, and set standards for new vehicle purchases.

The City of Tulsa owns 3,482 total vehicle and equipment assets, 2,572 of which are vehicles. According to Beyer, the initial study of fleet services came from a general review of the City, designed to find savings, by consulting company KPMG in 2010.

For its right-sizing effort, CST Fleet Services recommended the City reduce its fleet size by 22 percent, which would mean a reduction of roughly 565 vehicles.

“The under-utilized vehicle analysis was done by vehicle class, not department,” Beyer said. “Until the analysis is completed, we won’t know for certain which departments have underutilized vehicles. We suspect most departments have some vehicles that are underutilized.”

With the review by CST concluded and right-sizing and the Steering Committee formation efforts about to begin, Tulsa plans to make a number of additional major changes to its fleet operations in the future.

“Tulsa also has plans to expand the motor pool, explore consolidating six shops to four and implementing a second shift operation,” Beyer said. “By consolidating shops and expanding to a second shift, more bay space is available overall and preventive maintenance can be scheduled during shifts when vehicles are not being used.”

She said Tulsa will also upgrade its fleet asset management software within the next year, which will allow the City to improve its motor pool and fueling operations, track vehicle downtime better, and more actively manage shop floor operations.

Related to other policies designed to control costs associated with City-owned vehicles, City policies don’t allow for personal use of vehicles and take-home vehicle use is closely monitored.

“The mayor approves a roster of employees who are assigned take-home vehicles annually,” Beyer said. “All uniformed police officers are assigned a vehicle and may drive it home if they live within the City limits.”  

By Greg Basich