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UP-CLOSE Police Management I Budget and Cost Control Tips (LAPD) has been experimenting by using a urethane plastic spray, manufactured by Scorpion, over the rear seat area of their cruisers. This coating, similar to that of bedliners sprayed inside the beds of pickup trucks, covers the rear seat and upholstery panels of their cruisers. This coating also has antibacterial properties, lest the rear seat occupants have an "accident." If such an incident occurs, the back seat area can be hosed out. Later, when the vehicle is to be prepped for resale, the coating is removed, leaving pristine upholstery in the rear seat area. Salvage Parts Many agencies cannibalize parts and components from decommissioned or wrecked vehicles. The LAPD completely strips all of their collision-damaged vehicles of useable parts and stockpiles fenders, doors, seats, engines, transmissions, differentials, and other viable components. With the stockpile of parts, if a vehicle comes in needing minor collision repairs, a surplus door or fender can be quickly bolted on and the vehicle returned to service without waiting for new parts or repainting. Many agencies are realizing a better bang-for-the-buck by replacing vehicles when they are still viable—selling them to other law enforcement entities, security, or taxi companies and factoring in the resale value toward the new replacement vehicles. This practice pays off in higher offcer morale and lower overall repair and maintenance costs, due to vehicles still being under warranty. Our newer police vehicles are more fueleffcient, and many are E85 compatible. The current-generation police vehicles also have advanced safety features, over and above ABS, such as side-curtain and knee airbags, enhanced rollover protection, and stability control. These advanced features make for safer vehicles and reduced liability. On the subject of "doing more with less," many agencies are reducing upftting time and costs by purchasing vehicles already manufactured with one of the available factory prep packages. The manufacturers currently offer various packages including completely upftted, "turnkey" vehicles, where little is needed aside from installing communications gear, weaponry, and to affx 60 LAW and ORDER I October 2013 the agency's graphics or insignia on the doors. An additional advantage to purchasing the prep packages is they are standardized, meaning the information is covered in the factory shop manuals and covered by the factory warranty. Service and Repair How is vehicle maintenance performed and who performs it? Dealership, independent repair facility, or is it done in-house? With smaller feets it may be more cost-effective to outsource maintenance or repairs; however, with a larger feet, in-house maintenance should be seriously considered. If the feet size indicates it is best served by an outside contractor, one consideration would be dealing with another municipal/ county/state maintenance facility, who may be happy to have the additional work to overcome lulls and avoid having to lay off personnel. These outside facilities should also have completive labor rates compared to the rates charged by dealerships. Many successful fleet maintenance operations are operated as a stand-alone business such as with the City of Everett, Wash. In addition to servicing their police vehicles, Fleet Operations also services and repairs other municipal vehicles, including transit busses. Bill DeRousse, retired feet manager for the City of Everett, Wash., advises to keep all of the necessary pertinent information close at hand. Whenever a new city administrator stops by, DeRousse prints up a briefng book with the latest facts and fgures and hands it to the new administrator. DeRousse then conducts a two-hour sit-down session with the administrator and he explains exactly how his operation functions and answers whatever questions come up. DeRousse also stresses customer service. A person can be a great service manager; however, if he/she gives poor customer service, the end result is an unhappy customer. A successful feet manager needs be knowledgeable in not only basic business practices, but the area he/ she serves. If this pertinent information is not immediately available, it would be diffcult to justify purchasing a new piece of equipment or hiring a new technician. Having your in-house fleet repair facility become an in-house warranty provider can also generate additional income and save the downtime or hassles of shuttling vehicles back and forth to the dealership. Any work that can be done faster and cheaper should be subletted to outside vendors. Depending on the shop's capacity and technician's skills, such "farmed out" operations may include wheel alignment, paint and collision work, air conditioning service, machine-shop operations, radiator repair, and alternator, starter, and drivetrain component rebuilding. Synthetic Oil On the subject of transmissions, the feet managers of the City of La Habra, Calif. learned that using full-synthetic transmission fluid considerably extended transmission life—in their experience, this practice obtains an additional 30,000 miles per unit. If and when the unit does go bad, instead of rebuilding or sending the vehicle to a transmission shop, they will exchange the bad transmission with a factory-remanufactured unit, which has all of the latest upgrades and is backed by the factory warranty and saves downtime. In most cases, the 3,000-mile engine oil change interval is a thing of the past, given today's advanced engine technology and superior lubricants. With some vehicles, such as General Motors and Chrysler vehicles, the engine computer calculates when the engine oil should be changed. This fgure is calculated based on engine revolutions and temperatures the oil has been subjected to. When the oil change light comes on, the vehicle can be safely operated for another 600 miles. Extended oil changes can reduce the service intervals, reduce maintenance costs, and conserve on petroleum products. John Bellah is a Technical Editor for Police Fleet Manager Magazine and a retired corporal with the California State University, Long Beach Police Department. He may be reached at pfmteched@ yahoo.com. LaO Post your comments on this story by visiting www.lawandordermag.com