By Scott Allen —
Gillespie County Commissioners received a presentation from Simon Ortega and Billy Dobosz, representatives for Enterprise Fleet Management, during the commissioner’s meeting on Monday morning.
Ortega and Dobosz spoke about a management program that would get the county’s fleet of vehicles up to date and would work on implementing Enterprise’s program so that the county is putting the right vehicle in the right place.
“We work with the City of Fredericksburg, Allen Keller and Eilers Steel, as well as Hill Country Memorial,” Ortega, fleet consultant, said. “We look at streamlining the capital budget process as well as looking at lowering operating expenses to the fleet you currently own.”
The program only manages non-emergency street vehicles, and doesn’t work with dump trucks or marked police vehicles.
Out of the county’s 30 vehicles that Enterprise Fleet Management reviewed, 17 were found to be 11 years or older, Dobosz said.
“This program is going to enable you to get in and out of vehicles quicker and replace some of these aged assets,” said Dobosz, government marketing manager. “Instead of holding vehicles for 10 to 15 years, we try to get you in and out before maintenance costs start becoming an issue.”
The program is a sister entity to Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Dobosz said together they manage a total of 1.7 million vehicles across North America.
“This isn’t a ‘here’s the keys, and good luck’ type of program,” Dobosz said. “We are in it for a long-term partnership and a lot of that includes face-to-face meetings.”
Dobosz said they hope to save Gillespie County money in the long run.
“At the end of the day, you’re buying vehicles at a 20- to 25-percent discount, on average,” Dobosz said. “So, our goal is to take a look at the benefits of getting you in and out of vehicles quicker, selling your vehicles for top dollar, while keeping your maintenance and fuel cost at an all-time low.”
Precinct 4 Commissioner Donnie Schuch was supportive of the program.
“Rather than having all these old vehicles and having to repair them all the time, which certainly isn’t cheap anymore, I can see this being a big benefit in saving on our repair costs,” Schuch said.
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