Borough of Poole
Poole has a unique environment including world class beaches, rich heathland, a beautiful natural harbour and top-quality parks and open-spaces. The Council is committed to ensuring it remains a special place for residents, visitors and business. Poole encompasses some 65,000 households and is the home for 137,000 people, its special environment is shared by some 3.5 million visitors each year.
The Council operates a diverse fleet of some 250 vehicles and pieces of plant in order to deliver frontline services. This includes vehicles and plant for cleaning roads and streets, emptying bins, maintenance of beaches, parks and open spaces, maintenance of Council buildings, arts centres, museums, public toilets and libraries, highway and car park maintenance, delivery of leisure services and facilities and delivery of education and community care services.
The management of the vehicles is undertaken by the Fleet Department which forms part of the Environmental and Consumer Protection Service Unit, covering Refuse and Recycling collection and disposal, Street Cleansing, Environmental Health and Trading Standards, Licencing, Animal Welfare and Port Health.
Types of vehicles deployed by the Council include refuse collection vehicles up to 32t, mechanical sweepers, passenger transport accessible buses, tippers, vans, cars and plant.
The Fleet Department is responsible for vehicle maintenance, monitoring whole life cycle costs, procurement, vehicle/plant replacement strategy, hiring of vehicles for internal users, vehicle insurance, accident management, renewal of road fund licences and compliance with the Council's ‘Operators Licence which is retained under the Council's direct control.
The workshop is 1200m2 and is staffed by 2 chargehands, 6 fitters and 3 apprentices on a split shift basis. There has been significant investment recently and is fitted with 2 x new flush mounted 32t LGV ramps, VOSA approved brake tester and an extensive parts department which is operated on a contract basis by an external partner. The fleet office employs 3 Administrators and a Training and Compliance Officer and the operation is managed by 2 Principal Officers.
Users are consulted in depth when vehicles are due to be replaced to ensure that the vehicle is properly matched to the operation. Demonstrator vehicles are provided and drivers/operators and fitters are included in the decisions.
There is also an in-house training centre for the Council's operational requirements which includes forklift training, manual handling, sharps, plant needs, and specialist training for refuse vehicles, road-sweepers, skip loaders and lorry mounted cranes.
Long term directions for the Council include actively seeking to reduce its' carbon footprint. The Carbon Trust has been working with the Council to reduce energy usage and emissions with a target reduction of 25% in 2012/13 from a baseline in 2007/08.
Visit the website here