Public agencies continued to operate under tight financial controls, hard-to-fill positions, and uneven parts availability, all while meeting day-to-day service demands and long-term sustainability goals. Those pressures did not pause essential work; they shaped how it got done.
The 2025 Government Fleet Hacks Study examined how fleet teams responded in practice, highlighting a pattern of pragmatic problem-solving. Fleets had a major focus on the following:
Building workable solutions with what was already on hand.
Adapting familiar tools to new purposes.
Sharing knowledge internally to close skill gaps.
Targeting operational behaviors that moved the needle without new capital.
The result was a picture of fleets that were methodical rather than flashy, prioritizing continuity of service and measurable outcomes over big-ticket fixes.
Innovation Through Necessity
Public fleet professionals have continued to show ingenuity in the face of limited resources. According to the 2025 Government Fleet Hacks Study, more than two-thirds of respondents said they have built their own tools, tracking systems, or equipment modifications to fill operational gaps.
Repurposing Everyday Tech for Operations
Three-fifths of respondents said they’ve adapted non-fleet software, such as Excel, Google Sheets, or consumer apps, for management purposes. When IT budgets are tight, nearly half rely on repurposed office software as their top low-cost tech workaround.
These responses indicate that general business tools still play a significant role in day-to-day fleet oversight. In many cases, they function as stand-ins for more specialized systems, helping agencies track information and stay organized without new capital investment.
At the same time, this reliance can limit standardization and visibility compared with dedicated fleet platforms.
Learning from Your Teammates
Training remains largely homegrown. Three-fifths of respondents said they use peer mentoring to train staff, with several also citing in-house programs. Partnerships with schools, local businesses, and other agencies remain split; roughly half said they collaborate, while half do not.
“Listen to your staff about things that could make their work better … Not all of the ideas may be able to come to fruition, but if they make sense and are doable, it can make a big difference in your operation.” — Alison Kerstetter, Fleet Manager, City of Sacramento, California
Taken together, the responses point to a model in which most development occurs within the organization, with external partners filling in for some fleets but not others. This mix suggeststhere isstill considerable variation in how agencies approach technician pipelines and ongoing skill development.
As the fleet world evolves, operations will rely on a mix of internal knowledge sharing and selective partnerships rather than a single, standardized training path. However, this could shift down the line as more change happens and fleets pivot to meet the operation's needs.
Unique Solutions for Your Fleet’s Unique Challenges
As Larry Campbell, CPFP, retired director of fleet operations for Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Legendary Lifetime Achievement Award winner, once said, “Success is as unique as your fingerprint.” That holds true not only for how an operation defines success, but also for how a fleet gets there while dealing with everyday challenges.
Two fleets may run similar vehicle types, operate with roughly the same staff size, and face many of the same pressures that plague the government fleet industry. However, the way they respond has to fit their own structure, including resources and community expectations. Similarly sized operations may all be working toward refurbishment, but the path to achieving that end goal will rarely look identical.
“We’ve replaced both [fuel-card] systems with a single digital-fob solution … The change has saved hundreds of administrative hours, improved fuel-use accuracy, and dramatically reduced data-correction work.” — Kelly Reagan, Fleet Administrator for the City of Columbus, Ohio, Division of Fleet Management
One fleet may want to lean heavily on in-house technicians and staged funding over multiple budget cycles, while another may depend on contracted work, grants, or shared services with neighboring jurisdictions. What this means for fleets as a whole is that best practices often need to be interpreted rather than copied, leading to approaches that align with each fleet’s specific constraints and opportunities.
As the survey results show, in many areas, there may be a majority go-to for problem-solving, but there will always be outliers, with that go-to approach not always executed identically across fleet operations. Still, looking at which trend fleets have been gravitating toward can provide a better understanding of what is working best for most teams.
Peer mentoring and cross-training sit atthe center of howpublic shops keep capability intact when money and headcount are tight. A veteran standing next to a newer hire can share knowledge that might not translate in a manual, whetherthat's diagnostic instinctsto context on local duty cycles. At the same time, cross-training can widen that advantage by making each bay less dependent on one specialist, helping to steady uptime when vacancies hit.
Making Old Parts Work
When it comes to sourcing vehicles or components, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said their most unconventional solution involved salvaging or reusing parts from older equipment—a practical approach that keeps vehicles on the road without new spending.
Turning Improvised Tools Into Reliable, Auditable Workflows
Public fleets are keeping operations alive with improvised tech, leaning on repurposed office software and consumer apps while only a small share adopts low-cost fleet tools. The practical next step is to convert the best workarounds into standard practice with a goal of reliability that still moves at the pace of the shop.
