Prince William County fleet management recognized

Using technology, educating the work force and the public, reducing emissions and recycling are some of the reasons that the Prince William County Fleet Management Division ranks in the top 50 of the 2018 Green Fleet Awards Contest.

The contest is open to all federal, state and local government fleets in North America, according to the website for The 100 Best Fleets, which holds the contest.

The county’s Fleet Division Chief Ed Hamilton said this year was the first time fleet management entered the contest. The organization came in at 48 in the top 50 in the nationwide contest of government organizations. “We’re competing with fleets like New York City and Sacramento. We made the cut, not because of the composition of our fleet, but because of our technology usage.”

The division also has a number of fuel efficient vehicles, with plans to buy more, and that helped them in the fuel efficiency category, which was one of 28 categories in the contest, Hamilton said. “Because of fuel efficient vehicles, we’ve minimized the amount of fuel we use. We showed how our fuel utilization has decreased over the years.” 

Some of the other things noted that fleet management does well are to take advantage of motor pool initiatives, pull vehicles that were underutilized to put them where they could be put to better use and to look at the age of the fleet, Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the next goal is to compete in the 100 Best Fleet contest. “The 100 Best Fleet looks at environmental and green initiatives, as well as maintenance, performance standards, staffing levels, etc. We’re looking at things that will make us a world-class organization, not just a good organization.”

Hamilton said the division’s overarching goal is to keep county residents and employees safe. “We are here to provide safety and service to our customers, and more importantly, to make sure we do it right the first time. We can’t send a public safety vehicle, or any vehicle, out there that’s unsafe.”