We’ve heard various news stories about vehicles sighted where they’re (seemingly) not supposed to be, whether that's at a casino or a mall or an amusement park. Sometimes they're supposed to be there.
Read More →It is a long held proverb in the public sector that “’the number of philosophies on government is greater than to the number of philosophers on government.” This being said, it is especially natural for me to apply the word customer when describing relationship the residents of Jonesborough have with the town government. The Town of Jonesborough is expected to meet certain obligations in return for taxes paid.
Read More →Following Bob Stanton's advice in his opening keynote speech at GFX, I’ve compiled a list of what I learned at the show this year.
Read More →The greatest challenge facing the future of public-sector fleet management is how we define ourselves as a profession. Are we administrators of a fleet or are we managers? Do we manage our fleet from a tactical level, putting out the day-to-day fires – or a strategic level, focusing on achieving specific long-term objectives? In the future, I believe a strategic focus will be crucial to succeed in public-sector fleet management; otherwise, you will run the risk of being relegated to mediocrity.
Read More →Have you begun to notice that your employees are becoming more tense and uptight? Do they fly off the handle at even the most insignificant of issues? As I talk to my fleet friends from around the country I am getting a sense of employee frustration at levels I have never seen before in my fleet career.
Read More →Hard times present the opportunity (or necessity) to make needed changes in fleet management that would otherwise have never occurred during good times. Too often, change is difficult to implement in the government sector as the status quo reigns supreme. However, in an environment of dwindling resources and shrinking budgets, the “status quo model” no longer works. Business as usual is a recipe for disaster.
Read More →Equipment replacement is expensive…Enough said?… Not so fast. Equipment replacement can be an enormous financial benefit when done correctly. The concept of equipment replacement shares equivalence between productivity and cost. It is very easy to imagine a piece of equipment costing too much to be worth purchasing.
Read More →Small fleets have a dilemma when it comes to life cycling, a small geographic area will traditionally allow for a longer lifecycle in years but the technological life of an asset is getting shorter and shorter.
Read More →In the day to day operation on a fleet a fleet manager is often asked to lend their “expert” opinion to a situation. In some cases a fleet manager may not have any more knowledge that the next guy about the best practice for the given circumstance.
Read More →The demographics of public sector fleet operations are skewing increasingly to an aging workforce. A key reason is the large number of baby boomers eligible to retire now and into the next decade. Studies have documented the implications to various industries, but there has been little discussion about the ramifications to fleet management. Not only will there be a “retirement tsunami” in fleet, but there will be an even more crippling “brain drain” of lost institutional and legacy knowledge.
Read More →You may think you manage a well-run fleet, but how do you really know unless you have objective data to prove it? When you know your "numbers," you substantially increase the likelihood of successfully presenting the fleet position to the user departments, policy makers, and politicians. In addition, metrics help educate user departments having a financially adverse impact on fleet operations, and bring these inefficient practices to the attention of management in a non-accusatory format.
Read More →I would like to introduce a new PM acronym to fleet management; behold, the Preemptive Model. One may think a small fleet has unlimited opportunities to manage each piece of equipment in an individual manner and for the most part they would be right, but there is a fundamental problem with the micromanagement of equipment in a small fleet.
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