100 Best Fleets

TRENDS AMONG THE 100 BEST

In conducting the 2007 100 Best Fleet program, author and consultant Tom Johnson uncovered interesting trends among the country's best public sector fleets.

FLEETS STRIVES FOR CLEAN ENERGY

A big challenge to fleet managers has been meeting locally imposed fuel mandates. Executive orders have been issued or laws have been passed in nearly every state to use alternative fuels.

• Laws in 25 states now mandate clean energy, up from 10 three years ago. "This is a huge trend for fleet managers to comply with," said Johnson.
• San Jose, Calif., has 931 vehicles (or 34 percent) of its fleet converted to alternative-fuel vehicles.
• Snohomish County, Wash. Fleet Department is working with local farmers to grow biodiesel seed crops. Starting with 52 acres, the County is now up to 1,000 acres with excellent yields of 250 gallons of fuel per acre and $350,000 in federal funding. Farmers are netting $400 per acre.
• North Carolina has mandated the use of hog-waste-generated power as a renewable resource.

TECHNOLOGY PRODUCES ADVANTAGES

New technician recruitment has gotten a helpful boost from technology. Most of the 100 Best Fleets promoted their program ranking on their Web sites to recruit potential employees. Coconino County, Ariz., for example, filled five positions immediately after posting a notice that it was one of the 100 Best Fleets in the country to work for.

Troy, Mich., boasts a ratio of 60 tech applicants for every opening, using a combination of high tech/high touch to recruit. Its open houses for school counselors, parents, and students have been modeled by the entire city of Troy.

Sam Lamerato, City of Troy fleet manager (and the American Public Works Association [APWA] Michigan Fleet Manager of the Year 2006), also sends a CD of his shop's working conditions to every trade school, community college, and high school in the area. The CD includes interviews with the current technicians explaining why, in some cases, they drive 90 miles a day in the winter to work.

Culver City, Calif., posts all tech job openings on electronic billboards, including dealerships, to recruit experienced ASE technicians looking for a better work environment with health and retirement benefits.

WOMEN TECHS ON THE RISE

In the Portland, Ore., area, an association of 60 women techs recruits new women into the profession. John Hunt, fleet manager for the City of Portland, Ore., has been extremely successful with women techs, as has Rick Longobart of Inglewood, Calif., who has a mentoring/apprentice program for young women technicians.

"All of these excellent recruiters act as role models for the profession," Johnson said. "They all go out and talk to high schools and community colleges. Their reputations as excellent employers spread throughout the communities, which brings them word-of-mouth recruits and great public relations. People want to work at a place where they and their ideas are respected."