Fleet services details savings, maintenance metrics and replacement plan in work session

Flower Mound’s Fleet Services presented a work‑session briefing showing operational metrics, cost savings and a data‑driven replacement strategy for municipal vehicles and equipment.

Fleet manager Merrick Castle (presented as Billy) told council the division supports all town departments with acquisition, maintenance, registration and fuel management for approximately 477 pieces of equipment. He highlighted a $300,000 reduction in outside repair costs after changes to staffing and said the town’s in‑house fuel cost averaged about $2.47 per gallon last year compared with $2.99 per gallon on the open market (a reported roughly $145,000 savings on 280,000 gallons).

Performance measures included a high preventive‑maintenance completion rate (about 96%), a scheduled‑to‑unscheduled repair ratio of roughly 74/26 (benchmarks target ~60/40), and fleet availability near the 95% industry benchmark. Castle described status categories used in the fleet system: 'A' (active VERF‑funded assets), 'B' (retained/recycled assets), 'F' (approved and pending replacement), 'T' (temporary replacements) and 'E' (assets outside the normal replacement fund). He said the fleet management system uses maintenance dollars, meter readings and optional condition scores to produce point‑based replacement triggers.

Council and staff discussed repurposing frontline vehicles for lower‑use roles (for example, moving a retired patrol vehicle to an IT or SRO role) and auction or trade‑in strategies. Castle said the town uses GovDeals and other auction channels for surplus sales and that auction proceeds and insurance recoveries feed back into the vehicle replacement fund (VERF).

Castle proposed adding a dedicated parts coordinator to reduce technicians’ non‑wrench time; town staff indicated a budget adjustment to create that position would be filled soon and should increase productive 'wrench turning' hours. Managers said the fleet shop completed about 2,408 work orders and that internal labor availability and shop capacity influence future staffing needs.

Council members questioned vehicle diversity, replacement cadence and image concerns (residents seeing many white town vehicles parked at town facilities) and were reassured that GPS reports can document utilization and that replacement decisions are data‑driven rather than purely calendar‑based.

Speakers quoted in this article appear in the official transcript and include the fleet manager and town leadership. The council did not take formal action but encouraged follow‑up and noted the fleet program’s role in service delivery and FY27 budget planning.