Government Fleet, Jan/Feb 2021

If theres one thing people fear most now its touching something used by someone they dont know who may be carrying deadly germs Sharing vehicles and assets has become a great way for public entities to control costs and fleet size Unfortunately COVID 19 has made this difficult for many as its not always easy keeping customers socially distanced in smaller vehicles Changes Arent Always Bad Patrick Monaghan fleet manager for the City of Jamestown N Y says more employees are sharing vehicles now than before the pandemic For example before COVID 19 the department would use one truck to bring upwards of six laborers from the Street Maintenance Division and the Parks Department where they needed to be When COVID hit they had to reduce the number of workers in a single vehicle considerably This required them to borrow trucks from other departments to allow these laborers to still get to the jobsite in a safe clean way with minimal risk At this point the city hasnt yet developed any new vehicle pools or reduced fleet size due to budget cuts Monaghan says Id anticipate as the effects of these budget cuts trickle down we may see something that happens down the road But at this point in time nothing has happened yet The biggest concern about vehicle sharing during the pandemic has been the sheer number of vehicles that come through the Fleet Maintenance Division Every vehicle the city owns or operates comes through our doors If for example an employee at the Police Department tests positive for COVID 19 we need to know right away because theres a good chance we have seen that car come through our shop or it will soon come through he explains This is why cross department communication is most important It ensures although the individual departments may be taking precautions to contain the spread fleet can go above and beyond whats already being done to maintain safe vehicle sharing procedures Monaghan says his customers havent hesitated at the idea of sharing vehicles due to the virus However that doesnt stop him and his team from providing packages of disposable wipes for all employees in each vehicle Also the department had a part time cleaning person coming in just to clean offices before COVID 19 that individual has had his hours increase to almost full time because he goes around at the end of each shift to wipe down major touch points on vehicles as well Weve been able to do all that at least without breaking the bank but it will certainly reflect in the remainder of this years budget and into next years as well he clarifies When asked if he thinks asset sharing will cease being a practice with the global pandemic now changing the way How has the global pandemic changed the way fleets share vehicles and how long will these alterations last Asset in the Time of BY LEXI TUCKER 8 GOVERNMENT FLEET COM JANUARY FEBRUARY 2021