City of Lawrence

Public Works Department

MEMORANDUM

DATE:	April 20, 2007
TO:	David Corliss
	City Manager
FROM:	Steve Stewart,  Central Maintenance Garage Manager
RE:	City Vehicle Lifecycle Extension

The departmental vehicle lifecycle plans are based on industry standards for public and utility fleets. These plans are:

· Ten year -  light duty vehicle

· Seven year - refuse service

· Fifteen year - heavy duty and construction equipment

· Twenty year - trailer and minimal use equipment.

Background

For over twenty years, our lifecycle programs have been based around ten years. This plan attempts to maximize usage and at the same time minimize major component replacement.  We have found over the years that adjustments to this schedule are needed to reduce costs.

We evaluate units on a consistent, ongoing basis to help predict component failure and to determine if the vehicle life cycle can be extended. Flexibility in this program helps many of departments maximize their use of vehicles to do field operations that are not as demanding as high usage jobs. Departments with minimal transportation needs can fare very well with used police patrol cars, kept in service for one or two years before rotating out of the fleet. The cost is usually a few hundred dollars in maintenance and lost resale value as opposed to the purchase price of a new staff car.

The attached spreadsheet lists all the vehicles and equipment we currently have in extended service, including the years that they completed their normal lifecycle and the year to which they are extended. The term "present" in the extension year column means the life extension is yet to be determined. The extended life will be determined by the number of miles or hours accumulated yearly and the cost of maintenance. We send fluid samples collected during routine maintenance to a lab for analysis. This helps determine if components are wearing at a faster than normal rate or if we can extend the routine service interval.  As technology changes and reliability improves, staff will seek additional opportunities to further extend vehicle life cycles.