Fleet Operations

Contact Information , Office Hours
Functions , Department Responsibilities
Common Terms , History , Interesting Facts

Functions

Administration
Heavy Equipment Shop Section
Automotive Shop

Fleet Operations is a division of Internal Services and provides and maintains vehicles for County operations, including automobiles, ambulances, trucks, recycling vehicles and heavy equipment such as back-hoes, loaders, motor graders and bulldozers. It also repairs, maintains and fuels County vehicles and those of some agencies that have intergovernmental relationships with the County.

This Department Does

	Provide vehicles and equipment for County departments and some outside agencies
	Ensure all County-owned vehicles are properly titled and registered
	Repair and maintain the County's vehicles, heavy equipment, ambulances, fire trucks, dump trucks, trailers and small engine equipment
	Research, develop and write specifications for the vehicles and heavy equipment required to fulfill the needs of the user departments
	Perform 24-hour emergency repair services to the EMS ambulance fleet
	Provide motor pool vehicles for departments with occasional vehicle needs and for departments with short-term, additional vehicle requirements
	Coordinate County transportation and equipment needs before, during and after disasters
	Maintain automated and manual fueling sites throughout the County
	Monitor electronic leak detection systems as required
	Record the repair and maintenance history on all County vehicles, heavy equipment and small engine equipment for the life of each unit
	Maintain responsibility for acquisition and disposal of a $25,000,000 inventory

This Department Does Not

	Hire, train, or supervise drivers or equipment operators
	Lease vehicles or equipment
	Purchase insurance for vehicles and equipment (See Risk Management )
	Provide pickup and delivery service for user departments
	Assume responsibility for fuel spills associated with improper vehicle or equipment refueling (See Hazardous Materials Division )

Common Terms

ISF (Internal Service Fund)-- An accounting methodology exclusive to governmental entities. An ISF accumulates all costs associated with a particular service. Once costs are defined, they are distributed to user departments in the form of charge backs from the ISF.

Key Control-- A form of gasoline dispensing and accounting whereby an individual is issued a key to be used at a particular fuel site equipped with a Key Control mechanism. The Key records the amount of gas dispensed to that key. At the end of each month, the readings are recorded and appropriate charges are distributed to the user departments.

Motor Pool Vehicles-- A group of vehicles available to County employees whose departments may not be assigned vehicles or when assigned vehicles are not available. The department is charged a cost per mile for usage of a motor pool vehicle.

On-line Automated Fuel System-- Certain fueling sites are operated by a computer-driven dispensing system which requires two magnetic cards - an Employee Card and the Unit Card assigned to the vehicle or piece of equipment. Both cards are required for fuel dispensing.

UST (Underground Storage Tank)-- Fuel storage tanks located beneath the ground surface. The typical County tank holds approximately 10,000 gallons.

History

County heavy equipment repairs began in the early 1950s under the Public Works Department. By 1964, the County built the Heavy Equipment Shop on Azalea Avenue. Prior to construction of the Automotive Shop in 1971, the dealerships that sold vehicles to the County performed necessary repairs. In late 1978, Fleet Operations was designated as a separate department, independent of the Public Works Department. The Small Engine Repair function was added in 1980.

Interesting Facts

Fleet Operations distributes approximately one million gallons of gasoline/fuel per year (80,000 gallons per month) and processes approximately 9,400 repair orders per year.

Operating as an Internal Service Fund (ISF), the Department is challenged with "breaking even" each fiscal year.

Currently, this Department repairs and maintains:

	-	800 vehicles/light trucks
	-	200 heavy equipment units
	-	300 small engine units

	Generally, this Department earns more than $100,000 at the annual Fleet Auction from sales of used vehicles and equipment. Proceeds are deposited into the General Fund and are used to offset the costs for Fleet Operations services.
	Fleet Operations is responsible for a $25 million fleet inventory with an annual budget of $8 million and a staff of 30 employees.
	A new Heavy Equipment Shop within the Public Works Compound, will be built adjacent to the newly expanded Elections Warehouse building.

Contact Information

4371 Headquarters Road
North Charleston, SC 29405-7409
(843) 202-7900
(843) 202-7908 (Fax)

Office Hours

Monday-Friday
7:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.