20 November 2008
PUBLIC PERSPECTIVE
Federal Fleet Workshop Overview
The annual Federal Fleet Workshop gives government fleet managers an opportunity to get together, exchange ideas, and learn about the latest technologies.
Every year, federal fleet managers get together to discuss pertinent issues, review new products and services, and to brainstorm ideas and learn from each other. The most recent Federal Fleet Workshop took place in Orford, Quebec from October 30 to November 1, 2007.
In attendance were Carol Gooding of Toyota Canada, Loraine
Smith of Subaru Canada, and Lisa Bouchard of Nissan Canada.
“This was our 8th annual workshop,” says Serge Joanisse, Senior Policy analyst, Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada. “Initially, it was designed for federal fleet managers because there was no venue for them to get together and discuss what’s taking place on a national government-wide level.”
Joanisse is one of a number of volunteers who work hard every year to put this annual workshop together. “The first year we had 30 people in attendance and it’s grown over the years to almost 100 this year,” he says. “We try to limit the number of people in attendance because the larger the group, the more complicated things get. You need to find a bigger venue with enough parking, enough space for equipment, etc.”
The annual event attracts fleet managers from all government departments and from all over Canada. “We don’t advertise the workshop— it’s something we put together by sending out invitations in emails,” Joanisse says. “And over the years we’ve started inviting people from other levels of government as presenters, then as participants. We also invite some suppliers from the private sector to share their ideas—these are companies that already deal with us.”
More than 40 vendors were present at the latest Workshop, and the event included a ride and drive featuring vehicles with innovative technologies like E85, hybrids, displacement on demand, etc. Besides over 50 cars and trucks, the ride and drive also offered fleet managers an opportunity to review equipment such as ATVs, motorcycles and tractors.
Highlights
Workshop organizers invited manufacturers and government officials to come in and speak about best practices in managing fleets and new technologies, with a focus on the environmental and safety perspectives. This year, Ford, GM and Toyota spoke about the successful hybrid technologies, alternative and clean biofuels, future powertrain technologies, and even energy-efficient manufacturing processes.
“At this point in time, the manufacturing process doesn’t affect the way government fleet managers buy vehicles, but it may impact future purchases if and when the government dictates that the entire life cycle approach must be considered,” Joanisse says.
Mercedes-Benz also spoke about new and environmentally friendly diesel technologies while Goodyear spoke about the importance of winter tires, tire pressure monitoring technology and even the use of Nitrogen to inflate tires. BELRON Canada provided an interesting insight on the safety issues behind the proper installation of windshields.
The fleet manager for Gaz Métropolitain in Montreal explained the evolution of fleet management at this utility company since 2000, while the director general of the Special Vehicles and Transportation Equipment Manufacturers’ Association talked about the industry of transportation equipment in Quebec.
Experts from Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation at Transport Canada presented information on the effects of currently available invehicle technologies on driver productivity and road safety, and also talked about ESC (Electronic Stability Control) research at Transport Canada. “They discussed how technology impacts safety,” Joanisse says. “They’re demonstrating why ESC should be standard on all vehicles and they’re urging us to buy vehicles that have it.
“We also heard from an inspector at Transport Canada who talked about the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and Regulations in a language that we all could understand,” Joanisse says.
One of the more interesting presentations was by Transport Quebec’s Centre de gestion de l’équipement roulant agency. “They offered a good example of an organization that went from a prescriptive to a client-oriented approach with high-level service standards. They not only provide fleet management services to departments within the same government but also to all public service entities in Quebec. Many people found the presentation very interesting,” Joanisse says.
INVERS Mobility Solutions talked about an emerging solution in pool vehicle management using real world examples. To close off the presentations, “the timing was right for us to invite ARI Financial Services, the recent winner of the new standing offer for fleet management support services for the federal government’s fleet, to talk about the new program and its services and to demonstrate the capabilities of their new system,” Joanisse says.
Brainstorming
Another highlight of the 3-day Workshop was the annual brainstorming session. “We started brainstorming sessions last year,” Joanisse says. “Next year we might increase the number of sessions due to the positive feedback. For our brainstorming sessions we separate into four individual groups and discuss issues of interest to each group.”
Group one discussed how to deal with fleet data management. The session was based on real life experiences and started with the questions “Are you able to reach 100% data integrity, if not, why?” and “What have you done to capture the necessary fleet data, what’s missing and why?”
Another group discussed new technologies with a focus on whether or not hybrids are as cost-effective as they claim to be, and the issues experienced by those using alternative fuel vehicles such as E85 flexible fuel vehicles. “Fuels such as E85 are not readily available so some departments installed pumps on their own lots to fuel the vehicles,” Joanisse says. “And when you look at hybrids, you see that they’re still expensive compared to similar conventional vehicles, and you have to run them mostly in the city to see the benefits of the fuel economy.”
The third group discussed reducing life cycle costs associated with running a fleet. The group addressed questions that plague federal fleet managers such as: How are you managing to keep your operating costs under control? How can you ensure that funding is always available to maintain a modern fleet?
The final group brainstormed ideas having to do with the procurement and disposal of vehicles, and looked at whether vehicles that are acquired meet individual fleet needs as well as the experiences participants have had when disposing of their vehicles.
Positive feedback
Every year, attendees are asked to fill out a questionnaire to help organizers determine levels of satisfaction. “They always have something positive to say,” Joanisse says. “Keep in mind that we’re volunteers and we’re trying to keep costs down in order to make attendance as affordable as possible to the participating organizations. We do this because we know that it’s good for our community, it provides good value for money and people appreciate that.”
Every year, Workshop attendees leave the get-together eagerly anticipating the next one. “They always want to come back the following year,” Joanisse says. “That tells us that we’re doing something right.”
With such positive feedback, Joanisse and his team of volunteers are already looking forward to planning next year’s Workshop. “We will start planning it soon and we hope to hold it just north of Toronto,” he says. “It should take place around the second week of October, 2008.” | 
