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Fleet and Service from page 17 use equipment users and vendors during the standard pickup truck may only be three
process? to four pages, and a fire apparatus could
feel that if it doesn’t say Caterpillar on it, Hightower: The hardest part initially is be over 100 pages. It is always helpful to
it’s not a backhoe. Some may be very upset getting everybody nailed down to the get bid specifications from vendors, if they
that John Deere backhoes were purchased. equipment type needed with the funding are available, because this can provide the
You will never please everybody. And then or dollars that may be available. Some folks spec writer a starting point to work from
that leads to internal operation challenges only want the very best, some don’t care, without having to start from scratch. King-
that have to be overcome. some are clueless, and some understand sport’s equipment replacement (or new
Willis: Specifications are the key to happi- wholeheartedly. All that diversity and purchase) processes have specific steps that
ness and satisfaction when bidding equip- opinion has to be crunched into one team are followed on every purchase.
ment. When specifications are written package. The next is doing the research • Equipment replacement (or new ad-
poorly and expectations are not clearly and developing the specifications with bid
defined, you get what you got, not what document format to be used, which should ditional purchase) identified.
you needed. Specifications written to meet be consistent throughout all equipment - This step also takes into account the
the job needs are what I have concluded to purchasing processes. Then the technical
be the key learning experience. stuff begins. Getting the range of available type of equipment needed so a budget-
When you are ordering new equipment, what equipment types included in the bid docu- ary number can be calculated. For
are the most important things that Fleet, ment using words can be difficult. One example, we may need to step up from
Service, and the vendor bring to the table? has to weed out the chaff, or less desirable a compact truck to a full-size truck.
equipment, and include all the good equip- - Additionally, it is required to evaluate
Hightower: Knowledge, experience, under- ment available. To get the expectations of what the piece of equipment will be
standing and patience are all important. the equipment into the documents using a used for over its life and how long may
Willis: Ordering equipment is a joint range of minimum requirements requires that life be. Don’t look at just what the
venture with the vendor and fleet main- trying to marry the thoughts of operators, unit does today, evaluate what it may
tenance understanding each expectation technicians and department heads with have to do tomorrow (or the next five
and the abilities to meet them and the the technical data or offerings provided to 10 years) as well.
reality of understanding what cannot be by the vendor or manufacturer. And the • Identify funding for purchase (via budget
met. more complicated, complex, or special- process usually)
Talk about your spec-writing process. What is ized the unit is, the more difficult it can • Board or City Manager approval (again,
the hardest part? Why types of equipment are be to develop the specifications and avoid usually part of the budget process)
more difficult than others? How much do you the possibility of omitting something. A • Requisition entered (which requires
Budget Office approval before proceed-
ing with bidding)
18 TPW July/August 2018
