Current Government Fleet and Procurement Practice

1 Executive Summary

2 Background to Report

3 Summary of Report Findings and Baseline

4 Improving Performance

5 Data Analysis

6 Survey and Phone Interviews

7 Vehicle Costing and Fuel Consumption Data

8 Case Studies

Appendix A: List of Organisations and Key Groupings

Appendix B: Survey Questionnaire

Appendix C: Organisations Surveyed

Appendix D: Detailed Data Analysis

Appendix E: Detailed Survey Results

6 Survey and Phone Interviews

6.1 Introduction

A variety of approaches were used to supplement the information provided from LANDATA and from FleetCheck audits, and to seek specific information on procurement practices. These included:

• surveying selected government organisations on their fleet characteristics, selection and management practices, using a questionnaire developed for this purpose
• phone interviews with organisations that responded to the survey and that seemed either to have detailed fleet information and procurement policies in place or to have identified barriers to doing so. The phone interviews were intended to provide more detailed information.

Information obtained from the surveys is discussed in this section. An overview of the phone interview process is also discussed, with the results of the phone interviews themselves presented as case studies in Section 8.

6.2 Survey of selected government organisations

A questionnaire was sent to selected organisations in the wider government fleet, asking for information on three areas of fleet procurement and fleet management:

• Fleet characteristics - number of vehicles, age, ownership, type and engine size of vehicle (to supplement information from LANDATA).
• Vehicle procurement policies and practices - the person responsible for fleet procurement was identified and details of the procurement policy (if any) requested. Barriers and potential tools to aid in sustainable fleet procurement practices were also assessed.
• Fleet management and reporting - the person responsible for managing the fleet was identified, along with the type of maintenance programmes in place and the level of information collected and reported on (such as utilisation, fuel usage, odometer readings and trip type).

The questions on fleet characteristics were generally quantitative in their approach, while most of the questions on procurement and fleet management/reporting were qualitative.

A copy of the questionnaire is included in Appendix B.

6.2.1 Sample population

Surveys were sent to 33 government departments and business units, 28 of which completed the questionnaire. Appendix C lists the organisations that were sent and completed the survey.

The organisations were selected to represent a range of government departments and business units and to maximise the survey coverage. Based on the fleet sizes in LANDATA, the surveyed organisations make up 66 percent of the total fleet. The organisations were also selected to provide a reasonable representation over the key organisation groups, so the survey results are considered a good representation of the total fleet. The exception is Offices of Parliament, which was not included.

Detailed survey findings are set out in Appendix E, with summarised conclusions below.

6.3 Conclusions from survey feedback

Fleet data

Reported fleet data - numbers of vehicles, makes, engine size, and vehicle age - is generally consistent with the LANDATA information.

The top makes of vehicles purchased by government agencies are Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, Holden and Mazda.

Procurement

In the main those responsible for fleet procurement are inside the organisation (in finance or procurement departments) and negotiate directly with local dealers or manufacturers. Only two organisations indicate that they use external fleet managers and two use lease providers. Under 'other', a number of organisations referred to a GSB contract or syndicated contracts.

Around 85 percent of vehicles are purchased either directly by organisations or through GSB or other purchase arrangements.

While a number of organisations consider operating costs and whole-of-life costing in their procurement decisions it is hard to judge the level of detail to which these are carried out.

Safety, fit for purpose, environment, operating costs, whole-of-life costs and upfront capital costs are indicated as the top six drivers for fleet vehicle selection.

Safety considerations rank highly and safety rankings are commonly used in vehicle procurement policies. Some features selected for safety purposes such as air conditioners and automatic transmission can have an environmental cost.

The challenge with environmental considerations comes in their practical implementation.

• Survey results show that 18 organisations have a specific vehicle procurement policy. These policies tend to focus on capital costs, operating and whole-of-life costs, residual value, replacement schedule, safety ratings and fuel economy. A number of these factors will affect the environmental performance of a fleet - replacement policy, whole-of-life costing, fuel economy. (Note: In some cases respondents were not confident that vehicle procurement policies were adhered to when vehicles were part of staff remuneration packages rather than pool vehicles.)
• Specific environmental factors such as energy efficiency, vehicle emissions and recyclability are specifically considered by just a small number of organisations.
• Only half the respondents indicate that environmental considerations are incorporated into procurement decisions. While this result seems to contradict the earlier indicator that environmental considerations are a driver in vehicle selection - it is assumed that this generally refers to fuel economy as opposed to other issues such as emissions or energy efficiency.
• Waste oil, parts and end-of-life disposal are currently not considered by respondent organisations although a few respondents say they are aware of these issues and would like to find ways to manage these impacts in the future.
• While five of the 28 respondents incorporate specific terms and conditions relating to environmental considerations in procurement tenders and contracts, a number of others said they wanted to, but did not know enough to do so.

Fleet management

Most respondents have a regular vehicle maintenance policy. While most respondents track vehicle use, only 18 out of 28 focus on measuring and managing efficiencies. Use may be tracked for cost management, maintenance schedules and replacement purposes rather for managing fleet efficiencies or considering alternatives transport or vehicle options.

A number of respondents did indicate that systems for better fleet management are either being implemented or are planned.

6.4 Follow-up interviews

Based on the survey responses, the following organisations were selected for follow-up with a phone interview:

• Accident Compensation Corporation
• Ministry of Education
• New Zealand Police
• Bay of Plenty District Health Board
• Waitakere City Council.

These organisations were selected for phone interviews as their survey responses showed they had practices and procedures that demonstrated various aspects of good practice for selecting and managing vehicle fleets.

The selected organisations hesitated to use the term 'best practice' when referring to their processes or systems. Interviewees generally felt they were making good headway in some areas of their fleet procurement and management, but not as much progress in other areas. However, all interviewees showed a commitment to improving their current fleet performance.

Highlighting the methods and steps undertaken by organisations progressing towards a best practice process is valuable, particularly for those organisations that see the process as being too difficult or do not know how to proceed.

These phone interviews are summarised as case studies in Section 8.