Government Fleet, October 2018

EXPANDING ACQUISITION OPTIONS Crystal Lakes fleet includes 326 vehicles and pieces of heavy equipment The leasing plan calls for 116 units on three to five year leases The city is also working on leasing ambulances and fire engines directly from manufacturers with a goal of putting the entire fleet on leases After 15 years the calculated net cost of 196 million to purchase vehicles falls to 178 million a projected savings of 18 million The city estimates a combined savings of 36 million including reduced staff and maintenance costs along with fuel savings At Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority which is responsible for nearly 10000 low income residential units in about 60 properties the agency took a somewhat more measured tack starting with administrative vehicles It was a very practical approach Wade noted adding that he can see the vehicles from his office window The first phase called for the lease of 30 new Nissan Altima sedans in February a 2017 Ford F 350 pickup was added when the need arose The Altimas alone would have cost more than 600000 to buy outright We would never have six figures to buy 30 units Wade explained Take that cost and spread it over the lifecycle of the lease and consider the time value of the money You just cant recover that OCTOBER 2018 GOVERNMENT FLEET 9 PHOTO GETTY IMAGES ITS A CULTURAL SHIFT irector of Finance George Koczwara recalled a conversation with the City of Crystal Lake Ill Fleet Superintendent Don Christenson who noted that there is a built in advantage of government pricing Don pointed out that we could buy a pickup truck use it for two years and sell it near what we paid for it initially he said This planted the seed to look for a better way to acquire and replace the citys fleet They formed a working group of key staff members and once these members saw the benefits of leasing the city eventually entered into its first lease agreement this year Koczwara said leasing is within reach for any public sector fleet manager who sees the benefit for his or her community and is willing to see it through Its a major change Someone has to bird dog it Koczwara said The working group sought input from multiple sources before settling on a plan That feedback eventually helped put together the analysis and presentation It gave us an idea of where the questions were going to come from By the time we presented this to our city council we were thoroughly prepared The members of the city council are a very astute and business minded group of people and they were all for it As an official in the Office of Legal Affairs for the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority in Ohio Jeffrey Wade helped lead the effort to experiment with fleet leasing and he brought two advantages to the table As a former executive in the private sector he was familiar with the model and as a licensed attorney he was able to negotiate the terms of the lease agreement Even so it took three years worth of planning and education to make it happen I would not understate the cultural shift this is for any fleet and much more so for a public entity Its a time curve you cant shorten said Wade adding that officials should not hesitate to seek the information and resources outside experts can provide Education and relatable facts and figures can help advocates become experts Its not anything that anyone who desires to cant learn Whats the strategy and how are you going to get to it You need to have the drive to see it through he said D g