VALUE FOR MONEY FROM VEHICLES

Conclusions of interest to the highway engineer from a study by the audit commission to establish good practice in vehicle and plant management are given. The team studied about 45 local authorities, a dozen private firms and had discussions with a large number of professionals. The main message from the study is that transport is an area where relatively painless economies of typically 10 per cent, but up to 25 per cent, can and have been made in many authorities without detriment to the service being provided. These savings can be achieved by, among other actions, reducing the number of spare vehicles held (if necessary spot hiring to meet contingencies), reducing maintenance costs, achieving higher discounts on vehicle purchases and controlling fuel more tightly. The study also looked at the operational use of vehicles and established a number of yardsticks as to how many vehicles are required for each task of highway maintenance. (TRRL)