United States Department of Labor

2012 Sustainability Plan — Appendix B

Fleet Management Strategic Plan

The Department of Labor (DOL) fosters and promotes the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, and protecting their retirement, health care, and other benefits. Toward this end, the DOL administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws and numerous regulations that cover the workplace for some 10 million employers and 125 million workers.

To fulfill its mission, the DOL maintains a fleet of more than 4,200 vehicles, the majority of which are used by DOL worker enforcement agencies nationwide. The DOL initiative to "right size" its fleet actually began in 2006 when it developed the Automotive Utilization Tracking Online System (AUTOS), a centralized database system that the Department created and continues to use to track fleet performance. Thereafter, fleet and fuel optimization was given heightened priority by the Department when it was added to the DOL's FY 2007 Transportation Scorecard as a sustainability goal.

Consequently, since FY 2006, DOL fleet managers have worked diligently to reduce annual conventional petroleum consumption (gasoline and diesel) by 9.7%, representing 312,766 fewer fuel gallons burned annually. This reduction is especially heartening because during this same period, although the DOL fleet size increased by 17.2%, three new Job Corps student-training sites were opened and 735 additional enforcement and compliance staff were hired to protect the American workforce.

I. The Department of Labor's (DOL) Fleet Management System:

The Department of Labor's Fleet Management Information System (FMIS) is AUTOS. Continual upgrades to AUTOS enhance an already robust system that enables the Department to monitor and manage its fleet to leverage cost savings and reduce greenhouse gases, thereby supporting the Department's overall sustainability goals.

AUTOS is key to DOL's ability to achieve a sustainable fleet:

• Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) operators use AUTOS to locate nearby alternative fuels stations;
• Fleet managers, who are required to input data on vehicle fuel usage and mileage into AUTOS, can then monitor and measure vehicle utilization and costs;
• AUTOS stores up-to-date fleet records that can be routinely analyzed by the fleet manager and used to make strategic optimization decisions; and
• Because AUTOS captures vehicle information from acquisition to disposal, historical data can be used to monitor vehicle lifecycles and establish guidelines for maintenance and utilization.

Continued use of, and updates to, AUTOS enable the Department to reduce fleet petroleum use, increase alternative fuel use, optimize vehicle utilization to "right-size" the fleet, and increase low emission and high fuel economy acquisitions.

II. The Department of Labor's (DOL) Fleet Policy

DOL agencies periodically review their fleets and prioritize those actions that reduce the total fleet size or converts vehicles to alternative or low greenhouse gas emitting models (e.g., electric vehicles on Job Corps campuses and downsizing to smaller vehicles for worker protection agencies).

Mission-driven Fleet Optimization

DOL agency mission requirements are paramount when analyzing fleet optimization actions. This is because agency mission needs can limit fleet reduction possibilities or dictate vehicle requirements. Of the 4,269 vehicles in the current DOL fleet, almost 2,170 — more than 50% — are used by the Department's seven worker protection and enforcement agencies: the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA); Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); the Wage and Hour Division (WHD); Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP); Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS); the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA); and the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP).

These agencies require vehicles to conduct compliance and enforcement inspections. The need to transport or install specialized equipment in enforcement vehicles, or to deal with variable road terrain conditions, often defines what vehicle models an agency can consider. Therefore, DOL agencies carefully analyze fleet optimization strategies and options to ensure that vehicle reduction, model downsizing, and conversions from conventional to alternative fuels do not compromise the agency's mission.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) provides a clear example of mission-driven fleet optimization. MSHA administers the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to enforce compliance with mandatory safety and health standards in the nation's mines. MSHA's mission is to prevent death, disease, and injury from mining and promote safe and healthful workplaces for the Nation's miners. Statutorily, MSHA is required to conduct complete inspections of all underground mines four times per year, and all active surface mines twice per year.

Consequently, each day mining inspectors travel many miles to inspect our nation's coal and metal mines to safeguard worker health and safety. Because mines may be many miles apart and inspection vehicles must carry specialized equipment, vehicles cannot be shared by inspectors. Additionally, MSHA has specially equipped vehicles such as its large mobile Command Center used in mining emergencies. Therefore, fleet reduction may not be feasible for MSHA. Instead, the agency has looked to other "greening" options and has already replaced many of its conventionally fueled vehicles with alternative fueled vehicles (AFV) and electric hybrid models.

Whereas MSHA's mission fulfillment may require it to add vehicles or retain some conventionally-fueled specialty models, the DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) have identified different fleet requirements for their inspectors. OSHA compliance officers conduct over 42,000 site inspections annually in order to secure safe and healthy workplaces, particularly in high-risk industries. The WHD enforces the minimum wage, overtime, and child labor provisions in America's 7.5 million workplaces. Nevertheless, both these agencies have determined that their conventionally-fueled fleets can be fully converted to AFVs by 2015 without compromising mission requirements.

Table I shows the growth of DOL enforcement and compliance agency staff who require vehicles, and the staff to total vehicle ratio since 2006.

Table I: Department of Labor Enforcement Staff and Total Vehicles

At DOL's 125 Job Corps sites, mission-driven fleet optimization is also evident. Job Corps delivers comprehensive job skills training and education to eligible youth, most of whom live, train, and study on residential campuses located in 48 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Most motor vehicles at Job Corps campuses are used for student transportation and for staff to conduct key functions of the program's mission. For example, fleet vehicles transport students to work-based learning sites, community colleges, recreational activities, public and private transportation (bus lines, airports), and are used to evacuate students during emergency events.

Currently, the Job Corps fleet averages 1,850 GSA-leased vehicles system-wide and includes light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as buses and passenger vans. The remaining Job Corps' vehicles are DOL-owned and most are used exclusively for on-site Job Corps operations. Job Corps' fleet optimization plan has included replacing its on-site vehicles with electric models. Thus, Job Corps currently uses about 200 low-speed, all-electric utility vehicles for maintenance, security, and other campus operations.

III. Strategic Plan to Optimize Fleet

DOL agencies have completed a "Fleet Optimization" review to identify vehicle reductions and replacements through to 2015. DOL agencies have also developed action schedules with timelines to meet their current optimization projections.

Evolving missions, vehicle funding shortfalls, and better automotive technology does make fleet optimization a continually-changing target. This means that every possible cost-/fuel-saving solution remains on the table for consideration whenever that solution could meet mission needs. Therefore, DOL Fleet Managers will periodically reassess and update their projections in light of the Department's mission and goals for fleet optimization. Table II provides projections for agency vehicle reduction.

Table II: Vehicle Reductions

Since the DOL has been right-sizing its fleet since 2006, vehicle reductions play a secondary role in fleet optimization. Instead the Department's current emphasis is on downsizing to smaller vehicles and replacing the conventionally-fueled vehicles with lower emission, electric and alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). This is because, given that most DOL fleet vehicles are used for enforcement or for the Job Corps campuses, reducing the DOL fleet size any further might compromise agency missions. Therefore, Table III shows the projected replacement of conventional fuel vehicles with AFVs.

Table III: Conventional Fuel Vehicle Replacements

IV. Department of Labor's Schedule for Fleet Optimization

The current schedule for projected fleet reductions and vehicle replacement is shown in Table IV.

Table IV: Fleet Optimization Implementation Schedule

The DOL has also planned additional actions in FY 2012 to support fleet management. These are:

• Updating all vehicle locations and plotting these locations against AFV fueling stations within a ten-mile radius. Fleet Managers have been challenged to require that AFVs be fueled with E-85 fuel because of limited infrastructure availability. DOL plans to meet its goal of increasing alternative fuel (AF) usage by providing Fleet Managers with updated information on locations where E-85 fuel is readily available. DOL will use DOE tools to conduct this analysis of vehicle locations against AFV fueling stations so as to increase the utilization of alternative fuels.
• Initiating a pilot project to track AF usage in a sample vehicle set to identify vehicle usage patterns, barriers to full AF utilization, and whether vehicle locations are suitable relative to AF availability.
• DOL will consult with the GSA Office of Motor Vehicle Management for assistance in identifying and facilitating the placement of AFVs, as soon as practicable, in proximity to fueling stations with the appropriate available AF.
• DOL will eliminate mid-sized sedans and move to smaller sedans, except where required by mission.
• DOL will continue to seek fleet reductions where such reductions do not compromise mission requirements.

V. Vehicle Sourcing Decision-making Strategy

DOL acquires its vehicles primarily by lease through GSA because it is the least costly method of acquisition. Recently, this was reaffirmed by DOL's Office of the Secretary's executive fleet manager when the costs for GSA leased vehicles were compared against similar vehicles quoted through a commercial leasing company. Based upon this analysis, the executive fleet vehicles were converted from commercially leased vehicles to GSA leased vehicles, resulting in significant savings to the department.

DOL does own a few vehicles that are installed with special equipment that would be too expensive to reinstall on a leased vehicle. Therefore, these vehicles will be utilized for a longer period of time than is customary for GSA leased vehicles.

DOL will continue to review its fleet to ensure that vehicles leased or purchased are acquired from the most cost-effective source.

VI. Conclusion

The Department of Labor will continue to strategically manage and "green" its vehicle fleet with a fiscally prudent and mission-driven focus.