County Highway Department keeps fleet budget flat for 7 years and upgrades to new vehicles

BACKGROUND

Location: South Bend, IN

Industry: County Government

Total vehicles: 46 vehicles

THE CHALLENGE

St. Joseph County operated an aging fleet where half of the vehicles were older than 10 years. The county only replaced vehicles when they became inoperable, causing unpredictable capital expenses.

The Solution

St. Joseph County partnered with Enterprise Fleet Management to implement a fleet strategy of replacing vehicles every five years. The approach helped reduce the age of the fleet, offered a consistent replacement strategy, and improved the resale values.

THE RESULTS

The county sold vehicles with less mileage, improving resale gains by an estimated $200,000. The equity allowed the Highway Department to acquire over 40 vehicles when previously they only had enough capital to replace 5 vehicles. The new vehicles are more fuel-efficient which has decreased fuel expenses, reduced maintenance costs, and limited vehicle downtime. The partnership with Enterprise has simplified operations and improved the county’s image.

Our partnership with Enterprise Fleet Management has given us cost security within our own fleet. We purchase based on the right truck for the job, and we have reduced the fleet by roughly 10 units. We have done all this with the same annual spend, even 7 years after the program started.

Chip Porter, Highway Engineer

County of St. Joseph

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