Fleet Maintenance

The Fleet Maintenance Division facility is located at 901 10th Avenue. The 24,000 square foot building has 12 drive-through bays with five vehicle lifts and one turf lift. Half of the building's shop area has a five-ton bridge crane that serves six bays and has access to the mezzanine over the office area. Built in 2008 and completed in 2009, the Fleet Maintenance building won the American Public Works Association’s Project of the year in 2010. 

The Fleet Maintenance Division provides the City’s vehicle and equipment fleet of 821 pieces of equipment with high-quality maintenance and repairs. Through annual inspections and preventive maintenance inspections, vehicles are kept to D.O.T. standards. The City’s fleet includes 302 pieces of equipment in Public Works, 158 in Parks and Recreation, 76 in Police Department, 68 in Fire Department, 24 in Recycling, 15 in Community Development, 13 at the Mid-American Center, and four Special Transit Service buses. In addition, contracted services are provided for 160 assets for preventive maintenance and repair. These include 129 pieces of equipment for the Council Bluffs Community Schools, 17 for Carter Lake Fire and Police Department, nine for the Airport Authority, three for the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Motor Division, and two for the Pottawattamie County Assessor’s Office. 

Fifteen employees staff Fleet Maintenance. This includes a Superintendent, Fleet Foreman, City Wide Central Store Manager, Parts Coordinator, and 10 Equipment Technicians. The division works two overlapping shifts; 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Fleet Maintenance is funded through three different sources: 63.4% from the General Fund, 24% from the Road Use Fund, and 12.6% from Sewer Rental. The budget is currently 3.27 million dollars for this fiscal year.

Repairs and maintenance cover a wide variety of equipment ranging from small lawn equipment to 105-foot aerial ladder fire trucks. Detailed repair records and maintenance schedules are maintained on all the equipment. During the last full year, there were 4,554 work orders issued. The largest categories are breakdown maintenance visits and preventive maintenance, which includes routine lube-oil and safety checks.

Fuel for the city fleet is purchased and monitored through the Fleet Maintenance Division. Currently, the city has a total capacity of 45,120 gallons of fuel located at six different locations. Monitoring is accomplished by fuel metering heads on each pump. The information can be stored in the head or directly transferred to the monitoring computer. On average, the Fleet Maintenance Facility pumps 420 gallons of 10% ethanol unleaded gasoline and 350 gallons of diesel fuel per day at the main facility. Fleet is responsible for all regulatory compliance pertaining to the purchase, handling, and use of fuels. This includes certified Class A and B Operators that are responsible for monitoring and record-keeping of the fuel. In addition, the Class A and B Operators trained all employees as Class C Operators. Class C Operators are first responders in any fuel release.

Acquisition, utilization, replacement, and disposal of vehicles and equipment are the responsibility of the Fleet Maintenance Division. Requests are made for the purchase of equipment to the Fleet Division by other City Departments. These requests are analyzed for need and use and recommendations are given for the proper equipment to do the job. Once the equipment is determined to have served its useful life, Fleet prepares and directs the disposal of equipment through sealed bid, auction, or trade.