The City of Alcoa announced today that its Fleet Services Division has been named among the 100 Best Fleets for 2011 by Government Fleet Magazine. The fleet division under the Public Works & Engineering Department, led by Support Services Manager Steve Hillis, who himself is a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager (CAFM). The City Fleet Services Division is responsible for scheduled and unscheduled repairs, the tracking of all work, procurement and warehousing of parts, and oil and fuel usage for all City vehicles.

This awards program, sponsored by INVERS Mobility Solutions, recognizes leading fleets from across the country.

The judges for this year's program were Marilyn Rawlings, Lee County, Fla.; Samuel Lamerato, City of Troy, Mich.; George Baker, Volusia County, Fla.; and Steve Riley, City of Coral Gables, Fla.

The 100 Best Fleets award program recognizes and rewards peak performing public sector fleet operations in North America. The program also identifies and encourages ever-increasing levels of performance improvement within the fleet industry. The purposes of the 100 Best Fleets program are outlined below:

· Identify outstanding operations for others to emulate.

· Promote pride in the industry and provide recognition within the national fleet community.

· Promote ever-increasing levels of productivity and operational effectiveness.

· Encourage more individuals to consider fleet operations as a career choice.

“With over 38,000 public fleets in North America that are eligible to compete, it is quite prestigious that Alcoa, with one of the smallest fleets, was named in the top 100 along with Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Miami,” said Tom C. Johnson, founder and author of the 100 Best Fleet Project.

A comprehensive set of criteria, including implementing best business practices, is used to select the award winners. Those criteria include accountability, use of technology and information, evidence of a high trust culture, performance recognition, collaboration, creativity, doing it right the first time, quick/efficient turnaround, competitive pricing, staff development, and resources stewardship.

Hillis oversees the City of Alcoa’s fleet staff of three, unique in that they support over 300 vehicles and other equipment. Normally, the average is 50 vehicles per staff. A warehouse staff of one supports an inventory of over 2,200 stocked categories with a shelf value of $500,000.

The work of the staff is as close to a paperless shop as it can get with data instantly retrievable from any networked computer. The shop oversight is expanded by actively recruiting coordinators from all departments that assist logistically with both scheduled and unscheduled repairs. The physical design of the 10,500 square foot shop took over five years of planning as part of the City’s consolidated Service Center. Because of cross training, mechanics easily switch from tires, to welding, electrical, to compression, preventative maintenance or trouble shooting issues. The foreman’s office doubles as a fleet library and meeting room for most anyone that may drop by, including vendors and senior management.

Hillis said, “We have worked hard to design a fleet services program that fits our operational requirements. That is, to provide the best quality of maintenance and repair services for the dollars and personnel available. Our staff is heavy on Preventive Maintenance and we outsource our few large jobs when necessary. This really is a team effort with all employees and made possible by the great support from our city administration and commission in allowing us to create such a fleet services program.”

Hillis continued by saying, “In order to be most effective, our focus is to the city’s overall delivery of public services. It is our mandate to support every city employee with the most cost effective maintenance service that we can possibly supply. This means that the city employees that most citizens see every day - Police, Fire, Public Works, Electric and general government workers - all should have cars, trucks, maintenance equipment, power tools and supplies that are well maintained and last as long as possible, thus giving them the best edge to do their jobs well. Our Support Services staff takes pride in this honor but it would not be possible without everyone working together.”