Fleet Facilty Tour: Riverside County, Calif.
At the dispatch and service area, the customer fills out a service order and Mark (right) opens up the work order, which goes to the shop lead to dispatch the work. Kevin (left) handles motor pool reservations.
The city completed the installation of solar panels covering a portion of its lot, which was entirely paid for with a federal energy efficiency grant. Completed in 2011, the solar panels supply one-third of the fleet facility's electricity use.
The county fleet's main facility was built in 2008 and contains 16 doubled-up work bays. Eight technicians work at this one-shift facility.
The Sheriff's Department has about 1,000 active patrol cars.
County Supervisor Jeff Stone is a strong proponent of alternative fuels, both personally and for the county. He owns a Coda electric vehicle and Honda CNG Civic sedan, while his wife owns a Tesla electric vehicle.
The training room has double doors so any equipment or parts can be moved into the room easily for training purposes. It's also used by automakers for local training, and as a trade, the city can send some technicians for free or discounted training. The room has also been used for voting and for hosting local Clean Cities meetings.
Through a parts contract with O'Reilly, the city can keep a small parts inventory at its shops. There is a parts facility located near each of its shops, which means the company can guarantee delivery on parts within 30 minutes.
Heavy items such as engines and transmissions are stored above the parts room.
The keys to almost all fleet cars are stored here, including motor pool vehicle keys and extra keys. Keys are dated by year.
Pictured left to right are Doug Baracz, deputy director of fleet and purchasing; Ted Trujillo, fleet operations manager; Robert Howdyshell, director of purchasing and fleet services; and Lisa Brandl, incoming director of purchasing and fleet services.
This facility is used to service about 1,500 vehicles, mostly passenger cars and light trucks but also a few heavy trucks.