Fleet Management 101

To all the public sector fleet folks,  I know the "political push" right now is to downsize fleets and outsource more repair and maintenance work and, in my opinion, to a degree, that is fine.  However, be carefull, like every task you perform, set a goal;  follow Stephen Covey's advice:  "Start with the end in mind".  What should your fleet look like?  To set this goal, the "end users" must be part of the discussion; i.e. the operations folks.  You are the provider and they are your customers.  If you are not providing what they need for their operations, then you are useless.  In the private sector, you would be "fired" or bankrupt.  What you must do first is identify all your equipment by these criteria:  what activity is this equipment engaged in?  Proactive (planned maintenance)?  or  Reactive (unplanned/snowfall is great example)?  Is there a rental option available?  Here is good example;  you can rent road graders rather readily but what if you need a road grader with a wing plow mounted?  They are not readily available.  Or, is there a contractor or another agency that can be employed in a crisis?  Recent winters in Michigan have not been as severe as some in years past, but don't be deluded, we could suffer another blizzard.  We have been lucky recently, high winds and blowing snow cause visibilty issues which historically have created unsafe conditions for snow plows and they have been pulled off their routes.  This causes roadways to plug up and the end result is closed roads, even expressways, until snow removal equipment can be safely redeployed.  In this type scenario, graders with Vee plows and wing plows plus snowblowers are required.  If you auction off all this type of equipment, what are your plans in this type of emergency?  Do you have any concept of the delay cost to the Michigan economy caused by a closed I-94, for example?  How long do you think business, the general public, and politicians will "put up with this" while you try to locate equipment to reopen these trunklines due to your lack of foresight?    I heard a quote attributed to the current director of Michigan Department of Transportation: "Directors are fired over snow removal and rest areas".  If the director loses his job over your poor planning, how will this impact your job security?   Not saying fleet reduction isn't good viable fleet management, but make sure you know what you are doing and always include your customers in the decision process.  Equipment usage is important information in identifying equipment that can be eliminated, but it is not the only factor and by far, not the most important factor.  Quite a number of years ago, there was a huge snowstorm that followed the Ohio River and shut down that area.  Kentucky suffered the most and had the greatest difficulty restoring mobility.  As a result, the Commissioner of Highways in the Commonwealth of Kentucky lost his job.  The replacement commissioner and his employees formed relationships with contractors who agreed to supplement Kentucky DOT snow plow forces in crisis situations.  Kentucky DOT purchased "self contained" salt hoppers which they placed in storage to provide to these contractors if and when needed.  Obviously, the Kentucky DOT did not expect heavy usage of this equipment but still realized the necessity of having it in the inventory.  As a result of this event, I, Dave Budd (MDOT Southwest Region Operations Superintendent) with the support of Tom Maki (Region Engineer) established the MDOT Contingency Fleet and promoted and assisted in the development of the equipment rental optional use  contract to speed up the equipment rental process, especially in emergency situations (including tornado and storm clean-up).  We investigated rental dump trucks which we could equipment with MDOT owned hoppers and snow plows but determined retaining our plow trucks that were scheduled for auction was actually more viable.  We talked to vendors about providing graders with wing plows for short term rental which they would do but at a very stiff price.  What we did that made the most sense was to have excavating contractor on contract who would be available with their grader(s) and operators to open up roads, cut banks, etc. as needed.  Our contribution would be to mount our wing plow and front Vee plow on their grader.  They would be utilized on an "on-call or call-in" basis.  This will work, we already completed a pilot and docmented the process and any needed improvements.  We reseached a partnership with other agencies but the down side is; when we need their grader with wing plow, so do they.  Contractor equipment generally sets idle all winter so there is no conflict with usage.  My point is; there aare all types of options and various "public/private" sector partnering opportunities.  In the end, who benefits?  We all do.  My advice;  In your quest to become more efficent and leaner...........do it the smart way and "start with the end in mind".  An FYI:  I will soon have a book on Fleet Management available based upon my years of experience and the classes and seminars I have attended.  It will be available from LuLu Publishing.  I'll let you know when it is ready.  I have a book available from LuLu Publishing now but it has nothing to do with fleet or other technical issues.  Happy motoring!!!!!!!!