Government Fleet, July/August 2020

Tracy Ochsner oversees about 1500 vehicles and pieces of heavy equipment as assistant director of operation services for the City of Fort Collins Colo However Ochsner said the departments people are its most valuable resource We take pride in acquiring good mechanics and retaining them Ochsner said The department invests in that valuable resource One way is through training Mechanics must participate in 40 hours of training per year which can be in the form of online training manufacturer training or in a classroom setting The fleets 45 staff members are also proud of their environmental commitment The vehicles use about a million gallons of fuel each year About half of that is compressed natural gas CNG and 20 is biodiesel We have jumped into the electric vehicle program now where we have logged over 500000 miles Ochsner said Every fleet organization today has a responsibility to the environment The departments commitment to training and environmental initiatives are two main factors that resulted in the City of Fort Collins fleet being named the nations No 1 Leading Fleet an award produced by Government Fleet Magazine and the American Public Works Association APWA and sponsored by Ford Focus on People Training Like many fleet organizations the department considers itself in the customer service business We feel like investing in people will pay huge dividends in our customer service experience and the quality of repairs our mechanics perform Ochsner said What are some of those dividends One is the fact mechanics stay with the city Average tenure for the citys mechanic staff is about 14 and a half years compared to an organizational average of seven years We are really proud we can recruit and keep good people Ochsner said The department surveys customers to measure how they feel about the timeliness and quality of its service The survey shows customer satisfaction improving every year The last survey showed 75 of customers were satisfied with the departments timeliness When it comes to the departments overall quality of work 70 expressed satisfaction That says almost three quarters of the customers that walk through the door walk out happy Ochsner said Thats where I would say the employee engagement and training make our team a strong organization For additional employee engagement the fleet department hosts an employee appreciation week every year with a lunch dinner and ice cream social The department also hosts a fleet recognition awards ceremony The city pays for its mechanics to take their ASE certification tests from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence and that has resulted in the fleet maintenance department becoming an ASE Blue Seal shop The department also requires supervisory training for all first level supervisors Ochsner said mechanics who get promoted to a supervisory role are usually very mechanically skilled and knowledgeable Sometimes though from the supervisory standpoint and leadership standpoint they havent had that sort of role in their careers yet Ochsner said We put them through a three day course on leadership The city provides the course which is called Managing at the City As for the fleet departments customers Ochsner wrote in his Leading Fleets submission that Customers are the reason we exist The mission statement for the department is To be a leader and provide world class service to our customers The department does this through activities such as the development of a portal in which customers can schedule appointments The City of Fort Collins Colo was named the No 1 Overall Fleet Tracy Ochsner explains how the fleet operation got there Training Environment Fort BY DARYL LUBINSKY TRACY OCHSNER 14 GOVERNMENT FLEET COM JULY AUGUST 2020