HomeMy WebLinkAbout11 Consideration of an Additional Fleet Mechanic
AGENDA ITEM # 11
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MEETING DATE: 5/5/2021
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Jillian Steward, HR Manager
SUBJECT: Consideration of Hiring an Additional Fleet Mechanic
APPROVED BY______________________________
Brian C. Wright, Interim General Manager/
Water Utility Director
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the addition of one full time mechanic for the District’s vehicle maintenance.
BACKGROUND:
Since 2018, the District has been providing fleet repair and maintenance with one Vehicle
Maintenance Foreman and the use of outside contractors and vendors. Between 2016 and
2018, fleet maintenance employed an additional employee part time to assist with all fleet
related workload. Prior to 2016, the District employed two full time fleet mechanics or one
mechanic and one Vehicle Maintenance Foreman. It has been identified that additional
internal support is needed to appropriately and efficiently maintain our current fleet size
and the additional vehicles that have been ordered, as well as effectively track all fleet
related activities.
The District’s fleet maintenance department is currently responsible for repairing and
maintaining a total of 105 vehicles or specialized pieces of utility equipment. In FY21 alone,
the District will be adding three additional vehicles to the fleet. Fleet departments across
the country have traditionally assessed their fleet mechanic staffing needs through the use
of simple vehicle to mechanic ratios based on industry type. For utilities, this ratio is one
mechanic per 55 to 75 vehicles, depending on the fleet mix. A more precise approach that
is used to determine fleet mechanic staffing needs take into account fleet size and
composition through the use of Maintenance and Repair Units (MRUs). The MRU method
determines the total amount of mechanic hours per vehicle or equipment type for any size
fleet. This allows any entity to precisely estimate how many productive mechanic hours are
needed for any fleet composition. Further, it can allow any fleet manager to adjust the
required annual maintenance and repair hours depending on how many hours are
expected to be completed by “in-house” employees and the employees’ available
productive hours per calendar year. Attachment A shows the MRU evaluation of the
District’s current fleet resulting in a need for 1.59 full time fleet mechanics. Attachment A
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uses the assumptions that 90% of repair and maintenance work is done by District
employees with a total of 1596 available productive hours per employee after sick,
vacation, and comp time is factored in.
As mentioned above, currently the only fleet personnel on staff is the Vehicle Maintenance
Foreman. In addition to vehicle maintenance and repair, the Vehicle Maintenance Foreman
is also responsible for scheduling, planning, assessing, and tracking of all fleet department
activities. With the addition of a mechanic, the Vehicle Maintenance Foreman will also be
responsible for improving fleet department activity tracking which needs improvement. The
Vehicle Maintenance Foreman will also be responsible for improving or establishing annual
equipment training for District staff in an effort to ensure safe operation and longevity of all
District equipment.
In FY20 the District spent approximately $155,000 for vehicle repair and maintenance
through outside vendors, as depicted in the table below.
Vehicle Type Total
Pool Vehicles and Light Trucks $ 36,182.49
Cummins Trucks/Equip. $ 45,636.71
International Trucks/Equip. $ 30,106.54
Altec Trucks/Equip. $ 25,503.00
Snow Removal Equipment $ 17,819.04
Total $ 155,247.78
This position is already an approved position on the Schedule A – MOU Wage Range.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Salary Range for a mechanic is $79,456 to $98,488 annually. With a prorated start date of
June 2021, the mechanic’s salary would be between $39,728 - $49,244 for the remainder
of 2021.
This position was not included in the Board Approved FY20-21 Budget, however sufficient
funds exist with the Electric and Water Utility Operating Reserves to fund the position
through the remainder of FY2021.
The position will be included in the proposed FY22-23 Budget for Board review.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A – TDPUD MRU Analysis