With fleet management in the public sector falling under the same umbrella with both federal and state/local governments, there are a few key differences in how the government programs for fleet management work. The United States Government operates the biggest civilian fleet globally with almost 650,000 vehicles as reported in the Federal Fleet Report. And that number is growing substantially. Here is a look at some of the ways that federal fleet management differs from state and local government programs.
Fleet Management Software
When it comes to collecting information about the fleet and considering the managerial aspect of it, the federal fleet management system has always had a tough time.
Much of the state and local government fleet management is done via fleet management software, tailor made for managing its vehicles. A small number of agencies operating federal fleets have applied it as well but most of them make use of property management software altered to serve the purpose of federal fleet management. Because it is not made specifically for managing vehicles, it is a lot less efficient.
Centralized Procurement
All the vehicles acquired by agencies for various federal fleets have to be done so through the United States General Services Administration (GSA) with the United States Postal Service (USPS) being the only exception.
The federal agencies can acquire vehicles for its fleets in one of two ways:
- They can make use of the leasing program which the GSA offers where the GSA has ownership of the vehicle and leases it to a federal agency for a monthly rate.
- The other option is through the purchasing service which the GSA provides to help agencies use their own funds to buy vehicles with large discounts on account of volume-pricing.
Many states and local governments also offer similar purchasing programs for buying vehicles for their fleets. However, when it comes to leasing, most local and state governments lack the same internal leasing system.
Remarketing Done by General Services Administration
When it comes to disposing of the vehicles for federal fleets owned by agencies or leased by GSA, the GSA manages it by arranging auctions for the general public. When it comes to the rules and regulations, the GSA has a particular way of working in which they offer an exchange sale program. This entails utilizing the money from agency-owned vehicles sold in auctions to offset costs of new vehicles for the federal fleet. Regarding the disposal of military vehicles, it is handled by the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency.
Compared to federal fleet management, the difference you see with the disposal of local and state government vehicles is that it is mostly a decentralized process. Every state, every county and city has its own manner to dispose of the vehicles. Traditionally, however, these vehicles end up in auction sales.
Source:
https://www.government-fleet.com/301786/federal-vs-state-local-fleets
