Nambucca Shire Council has resolved to switch from owning and buying to outsourcing after a successful 12-month trial of Toyota Fleet Management services.
The council received the first of its 13 vehicles to be leased from Toyota in late 2009 and is now outsourcing management of its entire fleet.
Nambucca Shire Council manager of civil works, Noel Chapman, says Nambucca was the first in the region to switch to a leasing arrangement.
"We're trailblazers," he tells Government News.
"We thought it was worth exploring because there is obviously a lot of money that is tied up in fleet."
He says the rapid fall in residual values when disposing of vehicles was blowing out whole-of-life costs. The council was forced to retain vehicles for much longer periods, in some cases up to 150,000 kilometres.
Chapman says the idea of outsourcing fleet management to minimise costs was first proposed by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council at a meeting of the Mid North Coast Group of Councils. Despite interest from neighbouring councils, Nambucca was the only council to proceed with a leasing arrangement. Read More>>
Read the full report: Coastal council blazes trail [PDF]
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