Civil Municipal - April 2024

resources and achieve an ROI that will meet the demands of local government officials, stakeholders and taxpayers.” The fleet software from Uptake can help managers maximize fleet readiness through predictive maintenance. The firm’s offering streamlines asset operations and maintenance; optimizes parts inventory; and improves labor efficiency by making the right vehicle repair the first time. Uptake’s tools help fleet directors leverage data to quickly improve operational systems, reduce downtime, maximize asset lifespan and deliver ideal outcomes for each jurisdiction’s constituents. The software also helps turn unplanned maintenance into planned maintenance. Here are some of the solutions the software provides: CITIES-COUNTIES NEED TO MONITOR FLEET MAINTENANCE AND CAREFULLYSPEND TAX DOLLARS OPENING L INES Source- www.americancityandcounty.com, Michael Keating, First Published 24th of April The public sector faces high debt levels, stressed budgets and wide-ranging priorities, says Brian Fairweather, vice president of public sector at Uptake, a developer of fleet maintenance software used by all levels of government to help reduce maintenance costs, maximize asset lifespan and improve operational systems. Fairweather says government officials have been getting the following messages from taxpayers: • Do more with the same, or do the same with less. • Be more efficient. • Stretch every dollar while being able to justify every dollar you spend against arguments for investments elsewhere. Taxpayers want fleet administrators in public agencies to become more efficient, Fairweather says: “For fleet managers overseeing assets with significant public visibility (e.g., public transit buses or public works vehicles), the pressure to deliver despite these challenges is heightened even further.” Fairweather says a good first step to improve fleet maintenance and operations is to put better information in the hands of senior, experienced vehicle maintainers. He adds that the high-quality fleet information will enable the senior maintainers “to provide better tools and support for the junior maintainers who will have their hands on these vehicles.” Outlining the benefits of quality vehicle operations information, Fairweather says: “Readily available data, from both the output of on-vehicle sensors and input from systems that track work orders, offers the rawmaterials necessary to optimize fleet operations in 2024.” Fairweather adds this cautionary note: “However, leveraging such data to successfully shift from preventive to predictive (or condition-based) maintenance is the only way to truly optimize 13 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 5, ISSUE 04