This will be the final OVM Quarterly Newsletter published in this format. OVM is transitioning to holding quarterly, in-person, “town hall” style sessions, the first of which was held at the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife facility in Westborough on Friday, March 15th. Feedback from this event was very positive and more than 20 EHS and EEA fleet and surplus staff were in attendance. Based on survey results and peer discussions, in-person meetings are the preferred method of communication with our Fleet and Surplus Property customers.
OVM thanks our readers for their time and commitment to improving their fleets. This distribution list will continue to be utilized for small outreach projects and/or surveys that may help shape the content of future outreach meetings.
As always, please
contact OVM
with questions or recommendations.
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Next OVM Quarterly Outreach Meeting
(6-14)
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Friday, June 14, 2019
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Building
1 Rabbit Hill Road
Westborough, MA
All Fleet and Surplus staff, including finance, HR, risk, etc., are invited to the next OVM/Surplus Property Outreach Meeting. This will be our second in-person, “town hall” style session and the registration link is below. Please note that attendees must be
registered
for the session, as space is limited, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Refreshments will be provided.
While content for the event is being finalized, we expect to cover the following areas:
- New Vehicle Ordering
- Fuel Efficiency Standard
- Maintenance and Accident Information
- Fuel Card Program
- Surplus Property
- Q&A
- On-Site Vendor Demonstration
To ensure we cover the necessary material at the meeting, the registration link includes an opportunity to ask questions prior to the session. As a result, the above list may be expanded, based on feedback.
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Fuel Efficiency Standard Updates!
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The Fuel Efficiency Standard (FES) is adding a new Category for FY20!
Since the FES was established in 2016, the Green Fleet Committee (GFC) has collaborated with Executive Branch agencies to help them meet their requirements
by replacing conventional fuel vehicles with hybrid, alternative fuel, and electric vehicles
. As a result of the last three years of collaboration, the GFC has reflected on ways to enhance the standard to better facilitate greening the state fleet while also providing flexibility to meet the unique needs of state agencies.
Several agencies have faced a significant barrier in meeting the combined 22 MPG requirement for Category II (SUVs, trucks, and vans) when acquiring vehicles weighing more than 8,500 lbs. GVW, as these vehicles tend to have significantly lower MPG ranges (11-16). While many vehicle manufacturers have alternative fuel vehicle options in their pipelines, current options are extremely limited or costly. Because many of these larger vehicles have agency-specific functional requirements, downsizing to smaller vehicles often is not an option.
As such, starting in FY20, the FES is adding a third category to the minimum MPG requirement. While existing categories will not see changes to their combined MPGs, Category II will apply to SUVs, trucks, and vans weighing equal to or less than 8,500 lbs. The new Category III will apply to SUVs, trucks, and vans weighing more than 8,500 lbs.
The addition of the new category helps to ensure that the FES remains challenging, but more achievable, especially for agencies with less flexibility in their fleets. The Green Fleet Committee hopes this change will provide agencies with greater incentive to acquire
after-market technologies
that would lead to achieving the standard within each category and also encourage the selection of more efficient vehicles in other categories to help achieve overall compliance.
We thank all agencies for their efforts and collaboration thus far, and will continue to pursue opportunities for the FES to help the Executive Branch achieve a cleaner and more efficient fleet.
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WEX Fuel Card Program Driver PIN -
Best Practice
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The Driver PIN is an important part of a successful fuel card program and it is needed to complete a fuel transaction using the WEX Fuel Card. A Best Practice is to assign a unique PIN to each driver who may operate a State vehicle and need to purchase fuel. Utilizing a unique Driver PIN allows the Agency Fleet Manager to immediately identify purchases made by each driver (where/when/how much/what type) without having to search the Driver Logs to find the correct driver. This is very helpful if there is a questionable purchase, based on internal protocols, or a purchase that may fall into one of the Exception categories which may need further research. OVM recommends using the driver’s 6-digit employee identification number (EID) as it’s more easily memorized and unique to each driver.
When the WEX Fuel Card Program was first set up, Agencies used a ‘generic’ PIN for ALL drivers. While this may have been an easier way to administer the program, this practice exposes Agencies to possible fraud or mishandling of the gas card as it may be difficult to trace the fuel purchase back to the correct driver. A handful of Agencies, including the Department of Conservation and Recreation, are utilizing the unique PIN Best Practice, and the Department of Developmental Services is in the process of rolling it out to all locations.
OVM encourages all Agencies to implement this Best Practice by converting from a generic PIN to unique Driver PINs. For more information, please reach out to
Cheryl Cushman at OVM.
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Vehicle Survey - Your Feedback Needed!
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OSD has negotiated an array of Statewide Contracts to satisfy fleet needs. Two of these contracts address fleet acquisition:
VEH98
(Purchase of Vehicles) and
VEH93
(Heavy Duty Vehicles).
Over the next year, OSD will be negotiating successor contracts for VEH98 and VEH93 and, in preparation, is conducting a
brief survey
to gain buyer feedback related to vehicle purchasing requirements and how our current contracts meet customer expectations.
You may choose to answer some or all of the questions in our survey, which should take less than five minutes to complete. We are interested in hearing from public buyers who used the OSD contracts, elected
not
to use the OSD contracts in lieu of another source, or may have future fleet acquisition needs.
Additionally, buyers with broad experience in vehicle purchasing or expertise in this space are invited to
express interest
in serving on an OSD Strategic Sourcing Team for vehicle-related contracts.
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As a fond farewell to the Newsletter format, members of OVM have highlighted some previous, impactful articles. We appreciate your interest and attention to the newsletter in the past and look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming Outreach Meetings to discuss any of these topics, and others, directly.
Karen Rasnick
,
Lease Administrator,
shares her thoughts on vehicle replacement planning and reminds Agencies to start the process early:
Over the course of the last few years, I have learned that government practices often are very different from those in the corporate environment where I previously worked. This is especially true around budgeting and has created challenges to managing OVM’s lease program. If there’s one thing I could tell every Agency, it would be to plan far ahead! Due to the budget approval process which goes through the Governor’s Office, House, and Senate, many Agencies need to plan their vehicle replacements two years in advance. OVM is here to assist Agencies with replacement planning, so please use us as a resource when reviewing your fleet. Two important reminder articles are highlighted below:
OVM Lease Funding Available
Through an Interdepartmental Service Agreement with the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, OVM has secured capital bond funding to purchase vehicles through Statewide Contract VEH98 and lease them back to Executive Branch Agencies. A communication will be sent to all Secretariats early in the new fiscal year advising of funding availability, and it will include a list of recommended vehicles for replacement. Departments should submit their initial vehicle requests to OVM by close of business on the last Friday in August to be included in the first phase of ordering.
For more information on the OVM Lease Program, please visit the
OVM homepage
.
Start Vehicle Review and Budget Process
As many Agencies define or finalize their next fiscal year budgets, Fleet Managers should take the opportunity to review their vehicle inventory to determine:
- Utilization rates, for optimal fleet size and type;
- Vehicles that meet replacement criteria; and
- Budget to meet fiscal year replacement goals.
OVM currently recommends replacement of light duty vehicles as follows:
Replacement Criteria:
- Age: 10 or more years, based on model year to calendar year
- Odometer: 100,000 or more miles
- Maintenance Spend: $10,000 or more over vehicle's lifetime
- Percent of Spend: 50% or higher during last three years
Number of Criteria Met:
- Review for replacement next 2-3 years
- Review for replacement this year or next
- Review for replacement this year
- Potentially unsafe vehicle - replace immediately
John Martin
,
Business Specialist,
reminds Agencies to understand their registration options. While OVM recommends using standard state registrations for your fleet, there are rare circumstances detailed below where a member of your agency may qualify for a conventional or confidential registration. Please be aware the approval process to obtain a non-standard registration is exponentially longer than the typical 1-2 business day timeframe we provide for standard state registrations.
Commonwealth Registration and Plate Types
Most state vehicles typically are issued a registration and license plate designated for state use.
Some state vehicles may be issued
confidential registrations
if such vehicles are in the possession of law enforcement personnel or have received the appropriate approvals through the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and such registration is necessary either for undercover investigatory work or to protect the physical safety of law enforcement personnel using the vehicle. Such registrations will be issued on an individual basis for the sole use of the approved employee and the corresponding license plate will have the appearance of a conventional plate.
Confidential Registrations and Plates
- If applicable requirements are met, each request for a confidential registration must be submitted on an OVM-Confidential Registration Form at least 30 days before the proposed effective date of the registration. The form must be filled out in its entirety, signed by the Cabinet Secretary and Agency Head, and approved by the OVM Fleet Administrator.
- Once submitted, OVM will review the request and forward to the Executive Office for Administration and Finance for final review and approval. If a request is denied, OVM will return the application to the requesting Agency with the reason for denial.
- The confidential registration will be valid for a two-year period from the date of the original registration. If the Agency wishes to renew the confidential registration, it must submit a new request to OVM on the applicable form at least 30 days prior to the expiration date. If the Agency does not renew the confidential registration, the license plate must be returned to OVM immediately. In this instance, the Agency should request a new registration and attach a State license plate.
Conventional Registrations and Plates
Plates for passenger normal registrations (conventional) feature either a white background with red lettering or a white background with green lettering (issued prior to 1989). Agencies may request a passenger normal plate by contacting
OVM
.
Be aware that issuance of conventional plates is at the discretion of OVM.
Raphaela Miller
,
Administrative Assistant
,
shares her reminders about odometer submissions and tolls.
In preparation for monthly odometer submissions, Agencies may request an inventory listing of their ACTIVE vehicles, as they appear in the OVM database. To eliminate any ‘unknown’ vehicles in our database and to ensure the accuracy of the odometer reporting, please submit the plate numbers exactly as they are shown on the inventory listing. Please contact
OVM
with questions about this process.
To ensure drivers are not incurring toll violations, please review the most common issues that may result in a toll violation below:
- Transponders may not be positioned correctly in the windshield;
- The windshield may not be completely cleared off so that the transponder is visible, especially during winter months with snow and ice;
- Transponders may be getting old and are no longer recognized when going through the tolls.
To replace a transponder, visit one of the PaybyPlateMA / EZDriveMA offices in Boston, East Boston, Lee, Ludlow, Natick, or Saugus. For more information, visit
their website
.
Vincent Micozzi, Business Analyst,
reminds Agencies to perform a
complete
PM service based upon the Vehicle Maintenance Schedule included in the Fleet Response packet.
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A Preventive Maintenance service (PM) should be performed every 3,000 - 5,000 miles or six months, whichever occurs first. PM services are separated into three categories labeled A, B, and C. Each category contains a different combination of services intended to cover a vehicles’ basic maintenance needs.
OVM has created a tracking mechanism within FleetWave designed to assist Agency Fleet Managers in appropriately servicing their vehicles. For this tracking software to work, all items listed in the corresponding PM must be completed. It is important to note that just an oil change is not considered a PM and will not be sufficient to “reset the clock” for the next service that becomes due. OVM recommends the PM schedule below:
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When reviewing PM data within FleetWave, please note that the “A, B, and C” designations are reflected as “1, 2, and 3” instead. To gain access to view FleetWave, or for questions on understanding how this is displayed within the system,
contact OVM
.
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Upcoming Dates/Reminders
On-Site Auctions (
click here
to view dates and inventory details, as they become available):
June 07, 2019 – State Police lot in Ayer, MA
June 08, 2019 – OVM lot in Westborough, MA
July 19, 2019 – State Police lot in Ayer, MA
July 20, 2019 – MassDOT lot in Bridgewater, MA
August 23, 2019 – State Police lot in Ayer, MA
August 24, 2019 – OVM lot in Westborough, MA
October 4, 2019 – State Police lot in Ayer, MA
November 8, 2019 – State Police lot in Ayer, MA
November 9, 2019 – OVM lot in Westborough, MA
As we come to the end of Fiscal Year 2019, it is important to ensure any remaining vehicle deliveries occur prior to June 30, and preferably by the last business day of FY19, Friday, June 28. If you need assistance working with the supplying vendors, please
contact OVM
.
Agencies should begin planning now for FY20 vehicle orders:
- Contact Cheryl Cushman to discuss requests for vehicle purchases that will be made by the Agency directly.
- Contact Karen Rasnick to discuss requests for vehicles that will be acquired through the OSD/OVM Lease Program.
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ICYMI: In Case You Missed
It
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Click the links below to access previous issues of the OVM Newsletter.
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